Report: Seahawks fear Bruce Irvin tore his ACL. A needy pass rush gets needier
This is absolutely not how Bruce Irvin envisioned his Seahawks reunion.
Nor is it what the team’s sickly pass rush needs.
The Seahawks fear edge rusher Bruce Irvin tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee late in their win over the New England Patriots Sunday night, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Monday.
All coach Pete Carroll would say late Sunday night into Monday morning was that Irvin was due to get more magnetic resonance imaging tests to determine the extent of his injury.
A torn ACL would end Irvin’s return season to the Seahawks. The team signed back its 2012 first-round pick in free agency this spring. It is a one-year contract worth $3 million guaranteed.
He turns 33 in November.
“He has a sprained knee,” Carroll said Sunday night. “That’s the word. That’s what I was told. He was walking around and in the locker room afterward.
“So we;ll see what happens there.”
Monday morning on his weekly radio show with KIRO AM, Carroll said he was still awaiting MRI results on Irvin. He expected to get those later Monday.
Irvin has been the starting strongside linebacker in Seattle’s base 4-3 defense since the first practice of training camp last month. When the Seahawks have gone into nickel with five defensive backs and two linebackers, which they have more than 70% of the time through two games, Irvin has joined Benson Mayowa as a rush end.
Seattle also lost nickel back Marquise Blair to a serious knee injury against New England. Ugo Amadi replaced Blair Sunday and will going forward.
Carroll said he was “sick” about Blair’s injury.
He would feel the same way to lose Irvin.
The Seahawks signed Irvin to boost a pass rush that finished next to last in the NFL in sacks in 2019, then lost three-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney to Tennessee in free agency this month. Last month, they lost out on four-time Pro Bowl defensive end Everson Griffen. Seattle tried to sign him, but he chose Dallas instead.
The Seahawks (2-0) host the Cowboys (1-1) Sunday—while in dire need to pass rushers.
Mayowa, signed this offseason from the Raiders, has the only sack by a Seahawks defensive lineman in 91 drop backs by opposing quarterbacks this season. He played 65 of the team’s 72 snaps on defense against New England. Playing 90% of the snaps at age 29 is not sustainable over the 16-game regular season.
Irvin has three of the eight hits on QBs by a Seattle defensive lineman. And the position is thinning by the day.
Rasheem Green, the team’s sack leader last season, missed the New England game. He has a pinched nerve in his neck and his return is unknown.
Rookie second-round draft choice Darrell Taylor was supposed to be a top “Leo” end pass rushing off the weakside. But he has yet to practice let alone play. He is on the non-football-injury list. By league rules the first time he can practice is after the sixth week of the season, a month from now.
Taylor had surgery Jan. 30 to insert a Titanium rod into his lower leg. That was to repair a stress fracture he played all last season with at the University of Tennessee.
Carroll said Friday Taylor’s recovery has gone far slower than the Seahawks and their medical staff surmised it would when they drafted him in late April.
With the Patriots driving in the final minute and Sunday night’s game on the line, the Seahawks had Damontre Moore with Mayowa as end trying in vain to pressure quarterback Cam Newton. Moore was on his couch until Seattle signed him as a street free agent two weeks ago.
Rookie fifth-round pick Alton Robinson has yet to play. He was impressive during training camp as a strong yet quick edge rusher. But he’s been inactive for the first two games, but figures to get a sizable role this week against Dallas with Irvin now out, too.
This story was originally published September 21, 2020 at 12:11 PM.
