As they feared, Seahawks add 2 more starters, 4 others to COVID list. Rams get star off it
As they feared could happen, the Seahawks are losing more players to the coronavirus in the days since their must-win game got postponed.
Seattle put starting cornerback D.J. Reed, starting right tackle Brandon Shell, running back Travis Homer, defensive end Kerry Hyder and practice-squad guys Pier-Olivier Lestage and Mike Jackson on the reserve/COVID-19 list Sunday. The moves became official after what would have been the originally scheduled kickoff time of the Seahawks’ game at the Los Angeles Rams.
The NFL and its players’ union on Friday postponed the game until Tuesday at 4 p.m. in Inglewood, California. That was after the Rams added 29 players to the COVID list this week.
Reed got hit in the chest late in Seattle’s win at Houston last weekend but had since returned to full practice and was on track to start again at right cornerback against Cooper Kupp, Matthew Stafford and the Rams’ passing game. Shell has missed practice all week and the Houston game with a shoulder injury.
If Reed can’t play Tuesday, as seems likely, former New York Jets starter Bless Austin could be the choice to play opposite Sidney Jones at cornerback at L.A. Austin has been alternating a series or two the last two games with Jones at left cornerback.
Undrafted rookie Jake Curhan started his first NFL game last week at Houston, for Shell. He was already on track to start again for Shell against the Rams, before Shell went on the COVID list.
Since the postponement, the Rams have gotten seven back off the COVID list to play against the Seahawks. That includes All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey Sunday, plus star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and lead rusher Darrell Henderson Saturday.
In that same span, the Seahawks have gone from two players to eight on the COVID list. The six they added Sunday joined top wide receiver Tyler Lockett and season rushing leader Alex Collins as out from the coronavirus. Lockett and Collins tested positive Thursday.
They still have the possibility of testing negative twice before the league’s amended roster deadline of Tuesday 1 p.m. for the game. But Lockett and Collins had symptoms into Thursday, which is why they got tested for the third time this week. It’s less likely they will be through the coronavirus and test negative twice to play Tuesday than it was for Henderson, Beckham and Ramsey to do that after they went on the COVID list days earlier this past week.
On Friday, when news broke of the postponement, coach Pete Carroll was asked by The News Tribune whether the Seahawks had talked to the league about the possibility of postponing the game again past Tuesday if events played out this way: Seattle having more players test positive while Los Angeles, with the earlier outbreak, gets more players back between now and Tuesday.
“It’s interesting the way you looked at that. No, we haven’t talked about that,” Carroll said. “Not specifically about us having ... if you are saying that you get more leverage if we had more positive tests, I don’t know if that’s the case.
“This is really a conversation that is happening with the Players Association and the league. That’s what this discussion is — not as much with the teams as maybe you are thinking.”
This story was originally published December 19, 2021 at 4:57 PM.
