Seahawks’ Geno Smith, Jamal Adams, Devon Witherspoon questionable for Eagles game. But...
Geno Smith is officially questionable to play.
But Seattle’s quarterback appears less iffy than teammates Jamal Adams and Devon Witherspoon to play for the Seahawks (6-7) Monday night against the Philadelphia Eagles (10-3) at Lumen Field. It’s a key game for playoff contention in the NFC.
Smith again was participating fully at the start of practice Saturday, for the third third consecutive day. He remains on track to start Monday night.
The Seahawks listed him as a limited participant all three practice days in his return for the groin injury that kept him out of Seattle’s loss at San Francisco last weekend.
“He made it through the week. He made it through with the work that he’s done, and he’s still questionable,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said.
“We’ll wait and see what happens on game day.”
The veteran coach was coy and wasn’t about to give the Eagles any definitive word on whether Smith or backup Drew Lock will start Monday.
Lock said he’s been taking basic run-play reps with the starting offense for Smith this week, to preserve Smith’s injured leg. Hence, the “limited” practice designation for Smith. By NFL protocol, a player who participates in less than 100% of his normal drills in a practice must be listed as “limited.”
Asked if Smith did all the work in practice this week he, Carroll and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron were planning on, Carroll said “we didn’t have that kind of thought. We were just trying to get as much as we could.”
Yet Carroll said Smith did enough to be fully prepared to play Monday night.
Smith said Friday he’s been getting “around-the-clock” treatment on his groin this week. That has included waking at 5 a.m. for work by a therapist he’s brought into his home, and again before he goes to bed each evening.
“I’m getting better every, single day. Been working around the clock trying to get my body as healthy as possible to go out there and be able to play.”
Asked if he thinks he will start Monday night as he has for all but one time the last two Seahawks seasons, Smith said: “We’ll see.”
Safety Adams, because his pained knee, and cornerback Witherspoon with his hip pointer have not practiced all week.
Carroll said Monday he expected Witherspoon to find a way to play against the Eagles. The fifth pick in this year’s draft banged his hip into San Francisco’s George Kittle as a nickel defensive back breaking up a pass to the 49ers tight end in the first quarter of Seattle’s game last weekend.
Saturday, Carroll said of Witherspoon playing Monday night: “We’re hoping.”
It will be a game-time decision about Witherspoon, Carroll said.
Adams hasn’t been on the field even watching the starts of the three practices open to the media since he played in Seattle’s loss at the 49ers last weekend. The 49ers targeted him on a 54-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Deebo Samuel behind Adams in the second quarter.
“He’s a great player,” Carroll said of Adams, “and I’m trying to maximize his recovery and make sure that he’s available to us as much as we can possibly get him.
“We helped him out this week as much as we could.”
Adams has had pain in his knee since he returned to play Oct. 2 from 13 months recovering from a torn quadriceps tendon. The three-time Pro Bowl safety said his doctors told him to expect the knee issues this year, and that he won’t be close to fully recovered into halfway into 2024.
This week Carroll uncharacteristically called out Adams and cornerback Riq Woolen for not executing plays as coached against 49ers formations and calls Seattle’s staff prepared players to defend last week.
“I don’t mind mentioning these guys,” Carroll said Monday morning. “They know.”
If Adams doesn’t play, the Seahawks are likely to play only two safeties, Julian Love and Quandre Diggs, more than they did after Witherspoon got hurt at San Francisco.
If Witherspoon doesn’t play, Tre Brown has recovered from the heel injury that caused him to miss last weekend’s game to start at left cornerback. Coby Bryant would likely replace Witherspoon as the primary nickel defensive back. Bryant played three snaps on defense late in the San Francisco game. It was his first plays on defense since he returned from injured reserve.
This story was originally published December 16, 2023 at 1:24 PM.
