Rashaad Penny, K.J. Wright, D.J. Fluker inactive for Seahawks at 49ers. Jordan Simmons at guard
Jordan Simmons gets his third chance to impress. If they go like the first two, the Seahawks may be in the playoffs.
Seattle’s waiver pickup from Oakland in September made his third career start Sunday at the San Francisco 49ers. That was because the Seahawks made starting right guard D.J. Fluker inactive Sunday morning.
Fluker missed his third game in a month-plus, because of a hamstring strain.
A Seahawks victory Sunday would clinch a playoff spot.
The previous two starts for Simmons were his first two in the NFL for Oakland’s undrafted rookie free agent last year. The Seahawks ran for 273 yards at the Rams last month when Simmons debuted for Fluker. Last week when Simmons started again Seattle romped for 214 yards on the ground in the win over Minnesota.
“When we caught him playing for the Raiders during the preseason, he just looked like he was capable,” coach Pete Carroll said. “We knew that he was 338 pounds and he moved well—maybe better than we thought a guy that big should move. He had good flexibility to him. We just saw a lot of real positive things.
“We didn’t realize until we got him here that he’d really fit in and he fit in physically. He could do the things that he wanted to do, he could play big like we want to play.”
Rookie running back Rashaad Penny was inactive for the first time this season. He did not make the team’s trip to the Bay Area this weekend; he stayed home to rehabilitate a sore knee. The first-round draft choice injured that against Minnesota last week while rushing for 44 yards.
Carroll said Friday the Seahawks should know more by Wednesday about whether the number-two rusher behind Chris Carson will be able to play next week at home against Kansas City.
Pro Bowl linebacker K.J. Wright was out for the 11th time in 14 games since surgery in August on his knee. Reserve middle linebacker Austin Calitro was ready to be the weakside linebacker in base defense.
Mychal Kendricks, last week’s fill-in, went on injured reserve this past week and was headed to knee surgery.
Special-teams player Maurice Alexander was inactive because of a concussion he got covering a kick against the Vikings.
The Seahawks left defensive tackle Nazair Jones inactive for the sixth game this season. They chose Poona Ford inside on the defensive line instead, because lead back Matt Breida was back off injury to lead the 49ers’ formidable running game Sunday. The Seahawks generally have made Ford active versus running teams this season and the taller Jones, more of a pass rusher who knocks down throws, active against throwing teams.
Backup cornerback Kalan Reed and backup center Joey Hunt were the other Seahawks inactive players Sunday.
This story was originally published December 16, 2018 at 12:01 PM.
