Shaquill Griffin, Bradley McDougald, J.R. Sweezy miss Seahawks practice, but D.J. Fluker’s back
Shaquill Griffin, Bradley McDougald and J.R. Sweezy missed practice again.
Yet the most important fact about the latest Seahawks work day was D.J. Fluker was part of it.
The team listed its massive—and massively important—right guard as a limited participant in Wednesday’s indoor workout, three days before Seattle (10-6) plays at Dallas (10-6) in the NFC wild-card playoffs.
But Fluker is absolutely ready to start against the Cowboys.
And the Seahawks are absolutely eager to have him getting their offensive line back to normal for the playoffs. That’s after two weeks of mixing and matching up front because of injuries, chief among them Fluker’s strained hamstring.
Fluker said Wednesday he “heard a pop” in his hamstring when he injured it during the win over San Francisco Dec. 2.
“I thought, ‘This is it,’” he said Wednesday, meaning a torn hamstring and end to his Seattle debut season.
He missed the next two games as the Seahawks’ medical staff found it to be a mere strain. He was going to miss a third straight game, Dec. 23 against Kansas City, until left guard J.R. Sweezy strained the arch in his left foot. That forced Fluker into the game, at right guard because his fill-in starter that night Ethan Pocic moved over to left guard to replace Sweezy.
Fluker got through that 38-31 win over the Chiefs, the top seed in the AFC playoffs, as the Seahawks rushed for 210 yards. With the playoffs clinched, his team kept Fluker from playing in last weekend’s regular-season finale against Arizona. After the patchwork line allowed Russell Wilson to get sacked six times, his most since a loss at Chicago way back in week two, oach Pete Carroll said Fluker could have played.
Fluker appreciates that decision. He said Wednesday he feels “10 times better” than he did the week he had to play against the Chiefs.
That means Seattle’s line that led the NFL’s top rushing offense this season will be almost back to normal in Dallas. Fluker’s return will put Germain Ifedi back starting at right tackle and reserve tackle George Fant back to being the sixth offensive lineman, an extra tight end for about one-fourth of the offensive snaps.
Ifedi moved inside to his rookie position from 2016, right guard, to fill in for Fluker last weekend against Arizona. Fant started at right tackle. And it was largely a mess.
The only question for the Seahawks’ blockers in Dallas remains whether Sweezy will be the left guard. He’s yet to practice this week or last, but is much improved over this time last week. Carroll said Sweezy’s status will be a game-time decision Saturday.
Griffin hasn’t played or practiced since he left last weekend’s regular-season finale against Arizona with an ankle he twisted running down Larry Fitzgerald following a catch along the Cardinals’ sideline in the first half. Carroll said the team expects Griffin to “do something” in practice on Thursday. Expect him to be listed as questionable to play on the team’s official injury report for Saturday’s game.
Akeem King has been preparing this week to start if Griffin cannot. The fast, long King played the last two-plus quarters for Griffin against the Cardinals, who went right at him right away—as Dallas would do if Griffin doesn’t start on Saturday
McDougald got what appeared to be another rest day for the tendinitis the starting safety has had in his knee for months.
Wide receiver Doug Baldwin and lead running back Chris Carson returned to practice on a limited basis after getting Tuesday off to rest.
Fluker signed a one-year contract with Seattle as a free agent this offseason, to be the mauling, road grader the Seahawks needed to get back to the run this season. He missed the first two games with knee pain leftover from his shortened 2017 season with the New York Giants, then made his first start for the Seahawks against Dallas in week three.
That was the first of Carson’s six 100-yard rushing games, and Seattle got its first victory of the season. The Seahawks have won 10 of 14 games since.
How important has Fluker been?
“Well, he’s got a great temperament for the position, number one. He’s one of those guys that just brings a lot of juice, bring a lot of energy,” play caller Brian Schottenheimer said. “Very physical player. I think you can see that. He brings the size inside that we like. We feel him when he’s not there, sometimes.”
He’ll be there Saturday night in Dallas.
