Seahawks get a now-former Ravens LB Mike Macdonald coached, and shelve Stone Forsythe
The Seahawks have one solution for their four right tackles.
Shelve one of them — so they can add another linebacker, one who’s played for Mike Macdonald.
Seattle placed Stone Forsythe, its starting right tackle for five games ending last weekend, on injured reserve Wednesday with the hand injury that kept him out of the team’s win at Atlanta last weekend.
In his place on the 53-man active roster: Josh Ross. The Seahawks claimed the former University of Michigan linebacker off waivers from the Baltimore Ravens Wednesday.
Ross, who turns 25 next week, played the previous three seasons for Macdonald. Ross’ final college season at Michigan was in 2021, when the Seahawks’ coach was Michigan’s defensive coordinator for one year. Ross’ first two NFL seasons with Baltimore in 2022 and ‘23 were when Macdonald was the Ravens’ defensive coordinator.
Ross’ addition comes hours after the Seahawks traded starting weakside linebacker Jerome Baker and a fourth-round draft choice to the Tennessee Titans to acquire new starting middle linebacker Ernest Jones IV.
Ross has yet to play a down on defense in an NFL regular-season game. All of his playing time in 12 career games has been on the Ravens’ special-teams units. That includes in all seven games this season for Baltimore.
Macdonald said after the trade for Jones, and before the waiver claim for Ross became official, that Jones will become the NFC West-leading Seahawks’ new middle linebacker beginning Sunday when they play the Buffalo Bills (5-2) at Lumen Field. Former Bills linebacker Tyrel Dodson, who had been playing middle backer the first seven games for Seattle, is moving to the weakside, “Will” linebacker spot Baker vacated in Wednesday’s trade.
So Ross is arriving for depth and to add to a special-teams unit Macdonald has seen as the rest of his 4-3 team so far this season: inconsistent.
Stone Forsythe’s season
Forsythe began this season, the final one of his rookie contract, as the Seahawks’ third-string right tackle. Starter Abe Lucas has missed the first seven games and hasn’t played since January following knee surgery. Second-string tackle George Fant started for Lucas in the opening game of this season Sept. 8 against Denver. Then Fant injured his knee 13 plays into that game.
Forsythe started the next five games. He had allowed the most pressures in the NFL, 35, in those five starts before he got hurt playing all of Seattle’s home loss to San Francisco Oct. 10.
Fant returned to practice Wednesday, four days after rookie sixth-round pick Mike Jerrell debuted impressively in Seattle’s win at Atlanta last weekend.
If Fant proves by Sunday to be ready to play, line coach Scott Huff, offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb and Macdonald have a choice to make between Fant and Jerrell to start at right tackle against Buffalo Sunday.
This story was originally published October 23, 2024 at 2:44 PM.
