Rashaad Penny out again is why Seahawks are carrying 5 backs; Amadi, Blair split nickel
Their coach called Russell Wilson’s and the offense’s start to the season “nearly flawless.”
That includes how it’s manned.
Pete Carroll said Monday, upon returning from the Seahawks’ 28-16 win at the Indianapolis Colts in an opener Sunday that wasn’t that close, that running back Rashaad Penny might be out “a couple weeks.” He left Sunday’s game after two carries and 8 yards.
“He’s got a calf strain, so it will take us a bit to figure out what the return would be on that,” Carroll said. “He ran really well when he ran the other night, so we are going to miss him.”
Sadly for the Seahawks, and for Penny, this is not a surprise.
It’s the latest injury for Seattle’s first-round draft choice in 2018 whose career hasn’t really fully started because of repeated injuries.
Penny was limited in practice last Wednesday with the calf issue. Carroll said it tightened on his number-two rusher behind lead back Chris Carson early in the Colts game, so the team decided to keep Penny sidelined the rest of the day.
Now injured reserve is a possibility. New NFL rules the last couple years allow players who begin the regular season on the active roster to go on IR and return in as few as three weeks. If Penny is going to miss at least two, the Seahawks could put him on IR and use his roster spot for someone else the next three games.
This is why the Seahawks carried five running backs on the 53-man roster to begin this season.
Not just because of Penny’s long history of hurt, either. Running back is the most battered position in the league. The average career length for running backs in the NFL is 2.57 years, the shortest shelf life of any position. A few years ago the Seahawks had a whopping 18 different players carry the ball in a game.
Penny will miss the Seahawks’ home opener Sunday against the Tennessee Titans, who are 0-1 after a 38-13 loss at home to the Arizona Cardinals. Carroll said Alex Collins, who was left inactive for the opener, plus second-year man DeeJay Dallas and fellow backup running back Travis Homer are ready to play behind Carson.
With Penny getting only seven snaps at Indianapolis, Carson was in for 42 of 54 plays while rushing for 91 of Seattle’s 140 yards on the ground. Seventy-eight percent of snaps is too high for Carson, who has his own injury history in his four-year career, to sustain through the season.
So, again, this is why Seattle has five running backs on the roster. That’s not counting fullback Nick Bellore. The team’s Pro Bowl selection in 2020 for special teams is currently Bobby Wagner’s backup middle linebacker on defense.
“Alex is ready to go,” Carroll said. “Both Homer and DeeJay, there are ready to go, too.
“We’re in good shape. We have four running backs up this week, so we are in pretty good shape at the position.
“Unfortunately, if it takes (Penny) a couple weeks, then we will figure out how to handle that.”
Penny was on injured reserve in December 2019, after he tore knee ligaments in a non-contact injury catching a pass in a game at the Los Angeles Rams. He was out 12 months, until this past December. He had a sore knee last month in training camp. He broke a bone in his hand in his first training camp, his rookie season of 2018.
This is the final year of Penny’s rookie contract. The Seahawks declined to pick up a fifth-year option they had to keep him through 2022, at a guaranteed salary. He is headed to free agency this coming March, instead.
Nickel duo
Carroll said the Seahawks will continue to split the duties of fifth, nickel defensive back between Ugo Amadi and Marquise Blair.
Amadi had 34 snaps against the Colts. Blair had 28.
Blair was the primary nickel at the start of the 2020 season. But the team’s second-round pick in 2019 tore knee ligaments early in the second game last season and missed the rest of the year. Blair was on track to start this season as the primary nickel, then missed time in the middle of the preseason when the knee got sore.
That gave Amadi, a fourth-round pick in 2019, the opportunity to take the nickel role he had in parts of 2019 and ‘20. He was blitzing, faking blitzes and dropping into coverage throughout Sunday’s game against the Colts.
Carroll said Blair, who entered the league as a hard-hitting safety, is still essentially just two games into his NFL career as an inside, slot cornerback. Blair was somewhat tentative against Indianapolis, the coach said.
“We are just going to keep going with the rotation at this point,” Carroll said. “I felt, and I think Marquise did, too, that it was just good to get back out there. It was a little bit new, more new to him than maybe he would have anticipated.
“Remember, since last (season), second game of the year, he’s played 17 snaps going into this time. So he’s still just getting going. So he’s going to play a lot better, I think just a little more comfortable. He was a little bit on edge, trying to do things exactly right. He wasn’t exactly cutting loose as much as he will be.
“Ugo did a really nice job, again. Really added to the looks and disguises, and all that stuff. These guys are challenging each other. That’s what competition does. These guys are going to give us really good play.”
Eskridge, Hart concussion protocol
Top rookie draft choice Dee Eskridge and fellow wide receiver Penny Hart will be re-evaluated Wednesday as part of the NFL’s concussion protocol, Carroll said.
“It’s going to take a couple days to get it done,” the coach said. “Not the same. They are each individual cases, and of course we will treat them individually. But there’s a time-frame sequence that they have to follow through to make it back.
“Nothing to make a prediction about right now (about when they might return), other than we will see what happens.”
Eskridge gained 22 yards on two fly-sweep runs, what the speedy second-round pick recently called “my specialty.” He sped past the Colts’ best defender, All-Pro outside linebacker Darius Leonard, for a 13-yard gain in the first half on his first NFL carry. On his second one, in the fourth quarter with 8 minutes remaining, Eskridge gained 9 yards again around right end.
That time Indianapolis cornerback Rock Ya-Sin drilled him at the sideline. Eskridge did not get up right away. He needed help from a team doctor and trainer to walk slowly and tentatively to the opposite, Seahawks sideline.
Pocic knee
Reserve offensive lineman Ethan Pocic has a sprained knee. His status for the Tennessee game is unknown.
Pocic was injured after playing center for 14 plays against the Colts. He replaced starter Kyle Fuller for one series in the first half, and again for a possession in the second half. On the second series Pocic played, Wilson got sacked twice in three plays. The second sack, on third down, came after Wilson urgently clapped his hands together demanding Pocic’s shotgun snap that came later than the quarterback wanted.
Fuller played 40 snaps in his second NFL start at center. The fifth-year veteran did nothing to suggest he won’t be starting there again Sunday against the Titans, whether Pocic is available or not.
This story was originally published September 13, 2021 at 5:30 PM.
