Seahawks have a wide-receivers and COVID problem three days before must-win at the Rams
Tyler Lockett is not the only Seahawks wide receiver that may miss their biggest game of the season.
DK Metcalf, Dee Eskridge and Freddie Swain missed practice again Thursday, for the second consecutive day.
Metcalf has a new back injury. That is in addition to his foot issue Seattle’s coaches and training staff have managed through practice weeks all season. He has missed at least one and sometimes two practices in a week yet started every game. He has 56 receptions for 753 yards and eight touchdowns
Eskridge has a foot injury, new since he played in the Seahawks’ win at Houston last weekend. He had a key block outside right to set Rashaad Penny free on his first of two long touchdown runs.
Swain has an injured ankle. He also had an added designation Thursday of “not injury related, personal.”
Penny’s running Sunday may be more important than it’s ever been in his injury-filled, four-year career this weekend.
The Seahawks (5-8) will be trying to keep their slim playoff hopes alive while trying to stop Aaron Donald and the Rams’ pass rush from engulfing Russell Wilson as usual on Sunday when Seattle plays Los Angeles (9-4) in Inglewood, California.
No team has sacked Wilson more than the Rams. They have done it 79 times in 20 games, including five times in L.A.’s win at Seattle in the wild-card playoffs in January. No one has sacked Wilson more than Donald. He has 16 of them in 16 career games, including two in that playoff game last winter.
The Rams have won 10 of their last 14 games against the Seahawks.
Most of those games, the Seahawks have fallen behind and not had a running game to keep Donald and his pass-rush pals from teeing off carefree on Wilson. Penny running anything close to as he did last weekend in his career day at Houston would make the Rams’ defensive front have to play the Seahawks more honestly than they have in years.
Penny may have to run, even if he’s not gaining yards.
The only active-roster wide receiver on Wilson was throwing to in practice Thursday was Penny Hart. Hart has seven catches on 12 targets in parts of the last two seasons with Seattle.
The only other wide receivers on the field Thursday are on the practice squad: Cody Thompson, Cade Johnson, former University of Washington Husky Aaron Fuller and Matt Cole. Cole signed just this week. The total offensive snaps in an NFL regular season game for those four receivers, combined: three, all by Thompson this season for the Seahawks in their win Oct. 3 at San Francisco.
The Seahawks have another full practice Friday then a light one Saturday before they fly to southern California.
Metcalf, Eskridge and Swain could of course become healthy enough to practice before then, and Metcalf has proven all season he’ll play without practicing.
But this week they have another factor with which to contend: Lockett’s positive test for COVID-19 Thursday and how it could affect the rest of the wide-receiver room.
Lockett and Alex Collins, Seattle’s leading rusher this season, went on the COVID list Thursday.
The Seahawks will be fortunate if that list doesn’t grow Friday and Saturday.
The Rams added nine more players to their COVID list Thursday, including elite pass rusher Von Miller. That’s 25 players on Los Angeles’ COVID list since Monday, as of three days before the game.
This story was originally published December 16, 2021 at 5:02 PM.
