Shaquem Griffin’s effective cameo 2020 debut earns him a spot on Seahawks roster for Miami
Shaquem Griffin’s cameo appearance in his season debut has earned him another game.
Forget that the Seahawks sent their popular linebacker back down to the practice squad a day after Griffin made plays to help keep Dallas from the winning points on its final drive. His coach says Griffin will be back on the active roster and available for more specialized roles on Sunday when Seattle (3-0) plays at Miami (1-2).
“Yes,” Pete Carroll said Monday, nodding his head.
“He earned it.”
The Seahawks will either use the second of two free passes bringing Griffin up again from the practice squad for the game, or just sign him to the active roster outright. Seattle has one open space on its 53-man roster.
New NFL roster rules for this unprecedented, COVID-19 season allow teams to add one or two players from the practice squad up to 90 minutes before a game’s kickoff to up the roster to 54 or 55 players for any game. A team can send one player back to the practice squad after a game twice this season without having to expose him to league waivers.
Griffin has one more of those free passes available without waivers, after Seattle sent him back to the practice squad Monday.
Four weeks ago the Seahawks waived the first-one handed player drafted into the modern NFL (by Seattle, in 2018, to reunite him with twin Shaquill Griffin, the Seahawks’ Pro Bowl cornerback). The defense went with rookie first-round pick Jordyn Brooks at outside linebacker instead to begin the 2020 season. Griffin spent three workout weeks on the practice squad.
Griffin cleared waivers the first week of September, as the Seahawks hoped. They signed the backup strongside linebacker and situational edge pass rusher immediately to their 16-man practice squad.
Brooks sprained his knee in the win over the Cowboys Sunday. He’s likely to miss the game at Miami, at least.
The Seahawks won’t need Griffin in the quarterback-spy role as much against Miami’s more static passer Ryan Fitzpatrick this weekend, though Fitzpatrick did rush for 38 yards on seven carries with a rushing touchdown in the Dolphins’ 31-13 win at Jacksonville Thursday.
With Bruce Irvin on injured reserve and Brooks now hurt, too, the Seahawks are in desperate need for speed and effectiveness among their front seven defenders to pressure opposing quarterbacks. The Seahawks sacked Dallas’ Dak Prescott twice Sunday in 59 drop backs while he threw for 472 yards, the most by a quarterback against Seattle in franchise history.
The Seahawks have five sacks in three games. Two of those are on blitzes by All-Pro safety Jamal Adams, who has been by far the team’s most consistent and effective pass rusher.
Seattle has allowed Atlanta’s Matt Ryan to throw for 450 yards, New England’s Cam Newton 397 yards passing and Prescott’s record-setting throwing day. Two of the five most yards passing allowed by the Seahawks in franchise history have come this month.
So why did the Seahawks not have a place for Griffin until now?
“Number-one draft pick coming in, you know,” Carroll said Monday. “Jordyn Brooks is a really good ball player, and we love everything he’s done. ...
““There was no big plan about it. It just that, we added one guy, and he was a top pick. That spot went that way.”
Griffin stood on the sidelines for more than three hours with his helmet on, in a put-me-in-coach mode next to the defensive staff during every Cowboys offensive possession. Finally with Seattle trying to preserve its 38-31 lead, Carroll and defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. employed him in specific roles for 17 snaps to end the game.
For his first plays of the season Griffin was lined up at defensive end on the right side, trying to speed rush past Cowboys left tackle Brandon Knight. He came off of Knight and ran up field to hit Prescott as Dallas’ quarterback completed a short pass on second down from midfield with 1 minute left.
But otherwise the much bigger Knight repelled Griffin’s speed and spin moves that he used to star at the University of Central Florida through the 2017 season.
Then for the final minute Carroll and Norton put Griffin 2 yards off the line of scrimmage in the middle of the field as a spy on Prescott. It worked. Griffin’s speed in the open field allowed him to break up one pass and tackle running back Ezekiel Elliott immediately following a catch short of the line to gain.
Dallas’ 11-play drive and the game ended with Neal, playing for the injured Adams, intercepting a pass from Prescott into the end zone.
“The great thing about it is, Griff has not let up for a second,” Carroll said. “So when the opportunity was available, he jumped at it. He did a great job, and thrilled about that for him. He looked really good, and he was running all over the place, all over the field.
“If we can keep him available for those kinds of opportunities, he’s going to continue to show like that. ...
“Now, with a couple opportunities and injuries and stuff like that, Griff jumped up and is ready to go. And I’m really excited to see him play again this weekend.”
