Jadeveon Clowney, Quandre Diggs officially will play Seahawks wild-card game at Eagles
Two of the more important, recently ailing Seahawks will play in their playoff opener.
The Seahawks on Friday issued their official injury report for Sunday’s NFC wild-card playoff game at Philadelphia. It was most notable for who was not on it. Jadeveon Clowney missed consecutive practices this week but is not listed; the top pass rusher will play against the Eagles, continuing to bull through a core-muscle injury that may require surgery after this season.
Coach Pete Carroll said this is the way it’s going to be with the three-time Pro Bowl defensive end: no practicing and preserving him for the playoff games.
“Yeah, we are just getting him to game time is all we can get done right now,” Carroll said.
“If this is what we’ve got then this is what we’ve got. And we’ll work with it.”
Key free safety Quandre Diggs was also not on Friday’s report. He returned to practice for the first time in three weeks, after a high-ankle sprain he got in Seattle’s win at Carolina last week.
“He had a good week. He really was able to go right back in and Wednesday and take the reps, and finished up looking just like he was fine,” Carroll said following Friday’s outdoor practice.
“Really a good deal, a real plus for us. He has had a positive impact for us, and hopefully he can do that again.”
Diggs reformed their defense after his trade from the Lions in late October. The Pro Bowl alternate practiced fully on Thursday for the first time in three weeks.
Pro Bowl veteran left tackle Duane Brown is out, as expected. This will be his third consecutive game he’s missed. He had minor knee surgery last week. The Seahawks’ hope is Brown can return next week for the divisional playoffs, if they can beat the Eagles without him first. George Fant is ready to start for the second consecutive game at left tackle.
Reserve wide receiver Malik Turner is out with the concussion he got two games ago against Arizona. That means rookie seventh-round draft choice John Ursua is likely to get more time in the offense. Ursua had his first catch of his career, to the 1-yard line on fourth down, in the final minute of last weekend’s loss to San Francisco in the NFC West title game.
Starting left guard Mike Iupati is questionable to play with a nerve issue in his neck; Carroll said that will be a game-time decision Sunday. The veteran has started 15 consecutive games. Jamarco Jones or Jordan Roos could start if Iupati can’t.
Jones, whom Seattle drafted last year to be a left tackle, started at right guard for injured D.J. Fluker for two games in October.
It’s hard to overstate how important Diggs’ return is to Seattle’s iffy secondary and its bottom-tier pass defense.
He has been a revelation in his debut half-season with Seattle. He was the captain of the Lions defense until Seahawks general manager John Schneider swiped him for a fifth-round draft choice Oct. 22. And now the Seahawks see why Lions players such as cornerback Darius Slay were so ticked that Detroit traded Diggs.
He had three interceptions, a touchdown, three passes knocked down, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble—five turnovers created—in his first four games with his new team before he got hurt. The three interceptions in four games tied his career high for an entire season.
Yet he’s been so much more than that.
Diggs’ crunching hits on receivers and ball carriers and his wide range from sideline to sideline and deep as a free safety has reformed how the Seahawks play in the defense’s back half.
Before Diggs arrived the Seahawks had Tedric Thompson misplaying passes that went for multiple touchdowns and big plays in the first half of the season. They were trying more two-deep, cover-two defense with Bradley McDougald also back deep, to help Thompson. They tried Lano Hill and, less and not enough, promising rookie Marquise Blair back there.
It was sub-optimal, for sure. A revolving door on the last line of defense is no way to reach the Super Bowl. The Seahawks finished the regular season ranked 27th in the NFL in pass defense.
Last week Hill started again for Diggs at free safety. That helped make San Francisco rookie wide receiver Deebo Samuel look like Jerry Rice. Samuel burned Hill repeatedly for big plays over the middle, as the third-year veteran took poor angles and missed tackles following Samuel’s uncontested catches.
When Diggs played at the 49ers and at the Eagles in his first two games for Seattle in mid-November, he smashed San Francisco’s Emmanuel Sanders from the game with a hit to the ribs. He crunched multiple Philadelphia receivers. Seattle forced eight turnovers in those games, five by the Eagles. The Seahawks won both those road games to rise to the top of the NFC West and the conference.
Without Diggs, Seattle lost its last two games, both at home, to fall from the first to the fifth playoff seed in the NFC. That’s why they are playing in Philadelphia instead of at home Sunday, and on the road for as long as they last in the playoffs.
Diggs allows the Seahawks to play Carroll wants to in the back: with a single-high safety in cover three, dividing the field into thirds with the two cornerbacks, like they did when Earl Thomas was playing in Super Bowls with them. Diggs’ range, hitting, experience and intelligence as the lone, deep center fielder allows Seattle to employ McDougald more the way he wants to and feels he is best at. That’s closer to the line of scrimmage, more as a Kam Chancellor-scheme strong safety against the run. That also puts McDougald in better position to defend teams’ short, quick passing games.
With Diggs playing free safety behind him, McDougald had an interception of Wentz in Seattle’s 17-9 win at Philadelphia Nov. 24.
Wide receiver Jaron Brown has surprised Carroll and the Seahawks with how quickly he’s rebounded from his sprained knee he got early in last weekend’s game. The coach had said Brown would be out a couple weeks. The team listed him as questionable for Sunday.
This story was originally published January 3, 2020 at 2:23 PM.
