Seahawks get some encouraging signs Duane Brown might play at Green Bay; a starter onto IR
The Seahawks may be getting back their best offensive lineman—when they absolutely need him.
Duane Brown did “some work,” in coach Pete Carroll’s words, Tuesday and Wednesday. That’s his first football activity since his minor knee surgery 2 1/2 weeks ago.
“He won’t practice (Wednesday),” Carroll said of his Pro Bowl veteran left tackle before practice for Sunday’s NFC divisional playoff game at Green Bay. “But it is an encouraging sign about him, you know, making his return.
“So, we’ll see what happens. We won’t know until,” the coach threw up his hand, “late.”
As in, late this week, Friday, Saturday or right up until the 3:40 p.m. kickoff Sunday at Lambeau Field.
Brown, the four-time Pro Bowl tackle, has missed the last three games and had minor knee surgery Dec. 23. The 34-year-old is Seattle’s best blocker, for the run and pass games. His return would be especially timely this weekend against the Packers’ Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith. Those two combined for 25 1/2 sacks in the 16-game regular season.
Former undrafted college basketball power forward George Fant has started the last two games at left tackle for Brown. That was after Jamarco Jones started last month against Arizona—and the Cardinals’ Chandler Jones got four sacks against him.
The Seahawks would like to get Fant back to his normal role as an extra, blocking tight end for the running game against the Packers, to give the entire line a better chance to pass block for Russell Wilson against a more honestly playing defense. With Fant again at tackle instead of blocking tight end and Brown out last weekend, the Eagles held running backs Travis Homer and Marshawn Lynch to 19 yards on 18 carries in Seattle’s wild-card playoff win.
The Seahawks were missing the left side of its starting line in Philadelphia. Veteran Mike Iupati missed his first game this season with a nerve issue in his neck. Iupati also missed practice again Wednesday.
“We are waiting for a second opinion on something,” Carroll said.
Jones filled in for Iupati last week. The Seahawks drafted Jones from Ohio State in 2018 to be a left tackle. But his starts this season have been at right guard (two games for injured D.J. Fluker in October) and last week for Iupati at left guard.
Wide receiver Malik Turner returned to practice Wednesday for the first time since he got a concussion in that home loss to Arizona Dec. 22. Carroll said the team will see how Turner handled that work before it has a better idea if he can play at Green Bay.
The Seahawks had just four wide receivers active for the win at Philadelphia last weekend: Tyler Lockett, rookie second-round draft choice DK Metcalf, David Moore and rookie seventh-round pick John Ursua. Metcalf set an NFL playoff record for rookie with 160 yards receiving and a game-breaking touchdown of 53 yards in the fourth quarter of his first postseason game.
Kendricks on IR, an OT promoted
The Seahawks put linebacker Mychal Kendricks on injured reserve. He tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee in their loss to San Francisco two weeks ago.
Carroll said Kendricks is about to have surgery.
The Seahawks signed offensive tackle Chad Wheeler off the practice squad to take Kendricks’ place on the active roster, for depth on the line.
He is out for the playoffs and well into the offeseason because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament in a knee.
Kendricks, a Super Bowl starter for the Eagles a couple of years ago, ends his second season with Seattle like he did his first: prematurely. He got hurt Dec. 29 chasing Kyle Juszczyk down the sideline after the 49ers fullback got behind Kendricks down the sideline on a 44-yard catch and run.
Rookie Cody Barton made his third career start last weekend at Philadelphia for Kendricks at strongside linebacker next to Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright. Barton got his first career sack when the Eagles’ Josh McCown scrambled into him.
Kendricks’ one-year, $4.5 million contract is ending. He could be a free agent in March, but likely won’t be ready to be on the field until well into and perhaps past the summer. Plus, his often-postponed sentencing date in federal court in Pennsylvania for insider trading looms.
That could make Seattle more attractive to him than any other team in a free-agent market that isn’t likely to bullish on him.
Carroll has said he’d like to retain the 29-year-old Kendricks for 2020. He had a larger role this season as Carroll had Seattle in far more base, 4-3 defense with three linebackers on the field for the majority of defensive snaps all season. That’s unusual in a nickel-defense league of matching up extra defensive backs and fewer linebackers against extra wide receivers.
“I really like the way he plays. I like what Mike brings us.” Carroll said two weeks ago. “He’s a very active player. He’s an unusually instinctive, athletic guy for the position. That’s why we played him so much against three wides. He runs 4.4s. He’s a real fast linebacker.
“I hope that we’ll get him back and get him back with us. Look forward for that.”
This story was originally published January 8, 2020 at 3:09 PM.
