Seahawks pregame: Devon Witherspoon early field test goes well for start vs Steelers
Devon Witherspoon was smiling. He was talking to Pete Carroll. He was fist-bumping with defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt.
All signs from the rookie cornerback’s early workout Sunday morning 90-plus minutes before kickoff were Witherspoon was returning from injury to start against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Lumen Field.
Witherspoon had missed two games with a hip pointer.
The Seahawks announced 90 minutes before kickoff Sunday Witherspoon was active to play in the game. The NFL defensive rookie of the month for October entered for the game’s second play, as the nickel defensive back for the first time since Dec. 10. On the third snap of the game, Witherspoon missed a tackle after a catch by Diontae Johnson, resulting in Pittsburgh’s initial first down.
Dec. 10 was the day the fifth pick in this year’s NFL draft left Seattle’s loss at San Francisco in the first half after he banged into 49ers tight end George Kittle while breaking up a pass.
The Seahawks had listed Witherspoon questionable to play Sunday, on their injury report Friday for the Steelers game.
Mike Jackson started Sunday’s game at left cornerback. Riq Woolen started at right cornerback.
Witherspoon entered Sunday third in the league in passes defensed with 16, behind only Charvarius Ward of San Francisco (20) and Darious Williams of Jacksonville (19). Both Ward and Williams amassed their totals in 13 games played. Witherspoon entered Sunday with 12 games played in his debut season.
Witherspoon had three sacks entering Sunday’s game. He needed one sack to tie Terry Jackson and Lawyer Milloy for the second-most in a season by a defensive back in Seahawks history. Jamal Adams had 9 1/2 in 2020, to set a league record for sacks by a defensive back.
Adams went on injured reserve Saturday, ending his pained regular season grinding through knee pain.
Adams was going to miss his third consecutive game. The three-time Pro Bowl safety practiced on a limited basis Wednesday and Thursday, then missed practice Friday. On Friday, the team declared him out for the Steelers game Seattle needed to win the next-to-last game of the regular season to stay in prime position for a wild-card spot into the NFC playoffs.
His knee has been paining him since he made his season debut Oct. 2. That was after his 13 months of recovery from a torn quadriceps tendon.
He last played Dec. 10 at San Francisco. In that game Deebo Samuel ran past him easily for the 49ers’ go-ahead touchdown in their win over Seattle.
He’s said doctors told him after his quadriceps surgery last year his knee would like pain him into the summer of 2024.
Jordyn Brooks inactive
Also Saturday, the Seahawks downgraded Jordyn Brooks to out for the game with a sprained ankle he got last weekend in Seattle’s win at Tennessee.
Brooks being inactive Sunday meant former Steelers first-round draft choice Devin Bush was ready to start next to Bobby Wagner at inside linebacker for Seattle.
Devin Bush’s big day
Carroll said Friday he and teammates talked to Bush all this past week to keep him grounded for what was a huge game against his former team.
“We fronted it up and talked about it, and his teammates are giving him a hard time about handling it really well and making sure he does and all that,” Carroll said. “So we’re all supporting him. It’s those kinds of little things for a person, depends on who the guy is and all, but I think he’s going to handle it really well, and he’s looking forward to playing a good football game.”
Pittsburgh let Bush’s contract end after last season. He signed a one-year contract with the Seahawks this spring, when Seattle wasn’t sure if Brooks would recover from knee-reconstruction surgery in January to play this season. Brooks was back in eight months, in time for this season’s opener. That made Bush mostly a special-teams player, until this week.
Seahawks’ other inactives
Besides Brooks, Seattle’s other inactive players Sunday were injured defensive end Mario Edwards (knee), injured offensive lineman Jason Peters (foot), rookie running back Kenny McIntosh, cornerback Kelvin Joseph and reserve offensive linemen McClendon Curtis and Raiqwon O’Neal.
This story was originally published December 31, 2023 at 12:02 PM.
