7 Seahawks questionable for Sunday. Pete Carroll, practice indicate 3 are likely to play
As planned, DK Metcalf is rested, recuperated and ready.
Quandre Diggs, Julian Love, Phil Haynes and Jarran Reed appear to be, too.
And Jamal Adams remains on track to make his season debut next week — in New York.
The Seahawks (1-1) listed all of them questionable to play Sunday when they host the Carolina Panthers (0-2) at Lumen Field (1:05 p.m., channel 7). Then coach Pete Carroll defined the plus and minus shades of questionable for the seven Seattle players with that official designation on the game injury report Friday.
Metcalf practiced for the first time since a Detroit Lions defender injured the wide receiver’s ribs as he bulled to the goal line in Seattle’s overtime win last weekend.
“He had a really good day today. He busted it all day long. He practiced full,” Carroll said.
“He looked great.”
Carroll said Diggs had “a little bit of a tight” hamstring the team chose to rest this week.
“He feels like he’s playing,” Carroll said.
Same with Julian Love. The safety who has started next to Diggs the first two games is questionable on the injury report, yet his coach said Love did really well in practice Friday. That’s an indication Seattle will have its safety pairing intact to start Sunday, despite what the injury report indicates.
The only safety fully healthy on the active roster is Jerrick Reed, the rookie sixth-round draft choice.
Nickel defensive back Coby Bryant is out for Sunday. He has a toe injury, and Carroll said the team is going “to take care of him.”
Normally that might mean top rookie Devon Witherspoon moves from left cornerback inside to nickel, where he practiced in June minicamps and again in training camp. But Witherspoon and Tre Brown are likely to be the starting cornerbacks Sunday.
That’s because Riq Woolen is doubftul to play. The 2022 Pro Bowl selection as a rookie injured his chest in the Lions game. Brown came in to replace him at right cornerback — and had a forced fumble, the Seahawks’ first sack this season then a game-turning interception and return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Jamal Adams’ return
Adams practiced fully this week, for the first time since he tore his quadriceps tendon 12 months ago in the team’s 2022 opener. The Seahawks’ staff is purposely taking a measured, incremental approach with Adams’ return in hopes when he does play he can stay playing through the end of the season.
It shapes up that the three-time Pro Bowl safety’s season debut will come next week in the New Jersey Meadowlands, where he starred for the Jets before his trade to Seattle in 2020. The Seahawks play the Giants in a Monday night showcase Oct. 2.
“He’s as a close as he can get to going. We’ll see how this winds up.
“But he’ll be in the middle of it next week, for sure.”
Carroll said Love’s and Diggs’ status has no bearing on whether Adams plays against Carolina. That’s another indication Adams’ debut may be next week.
Jarran Reed back on track
The best development for the Seahawks Friday — and potentially for their defense against Carolina’s run-first offense — was the return to practice of Reed.
The nose tackle is at the center, literally, of Seattle’s run defense that has improved so far through two games from being the NFL’s 30th-ranked unit last season.
Carolina with 35-year-old backup quarterback Andy Dalton starting for injured prized rookie Bryce Young and a run-first approach anyway, figures to test Seattle’s run defense more consistently than the Rams and Lions did in the first two games.
Reed seems more likely to be in it than the injury report suggests.
Charles Cross improving
Starting left tackle Charles Cross is out for Sunday because of a sprained big toe.
Carroll spent time Thursday talking to Cross.
“He’s very upbeat about it. Feels way different than he did,” the coach said. “He’s truly on the road to recovery.
“Next week will be interesting to see where he is, how far he’s come back.”
With recently signed 41-year-old Jason Peters still working his way back into playing shape after his first practices in nine months, Stone Forsythe is likely to get a second consecutive start at left tackle Sunday.
Jake Curhan is likely to start his second straight game at right tackle. Starter Abe Lucas is on injured reserve until at least the game Oct. 15 at Cincinnati.
Tight end situation
Will Dissly is doubtful to play. He has a shoulder injury.
That makes it likely Brady Russell debuts for the Seahawks Sunday. The team signed the rookie tight end from Colorado off the Philadelphia Eagles’ practice squad onto the active roster this week.
Russell said he loves to block. That’s what Seattle needs with Dissly missing. But the Seahawks have already been incorporating him as a pass catcher, too.
The son of a former Marine pilot with a birthplace of the Camp Pendleton, California, Marine base said “I probably take — I don’t if I should say ‘more’ pride in the blocking. It’s kind of the gritty work no one wants to do. But I like it and take pride in it, because I know that will keep you around.”
Of Seattle’s three tight ends, all of which the offense used extensively and often at the same time last weekend against Detroit, Dissly is the blocker. Fant and Colby Parkinson are receiving-first tight ends.
DeeJay Dallas’ status
Running back DeeJay Dallas is questionable. He missed practice Friday with an illness.
That could mean more third-down plays for rookie Zach Charbonnet. It could also mean on Saturday the team promotes rookie running back SaRodorick Thompson from the practice squad for Sunday’s game.
