Seahawks’ DK Metcalf no practice, yet signs positive toward playing. New Witherspoon injury
DK Metcalf still isn’t practicing.
But his coach says that does not mean the star wide receiver won’t play again this weekend.
Metcalf missed practice against Wednesday, for the fourth consecutive time since he sprained the medial collateral ligament in his left knee two games ago, in the Seahawks’ win at Atlanta.
Yet coach Mike Macdonald maintained his positive outlook on Metcalf’s status for Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams.
“Guy is doing a great job. Confident,” Macdonald said before Wednesday’s rare indoor practice. “Still not going to practice (Wednesday), and optimistic for (Thursday). So we’ll kind of play it day by day.”
Monday, Macdonald had said he was “optimistic” Metcalf will play against the Rams. Asked he remains optimistic, Macdonald said: “I am, yeah.
“But right now we’re hoping he’ll be out there.”
The leading target for Geno Smith missed Seattle’s 31-10 home loss to Buffalo last weekend. It was only the second missed game of Metcalf’s six-year NFL career.
The Seahawks’ 21-point loss to the Bills, their fourth defeat in five games, was full of mistakes on offense, defense and special teams that Metcalf alone could not have overcome by playing last weekend. That included center Connor Williams sending a shotgun snap 5 yards over Smith’s head to ruin a second and goal at the 3-yard line with a 20-yard loss.
Metcalf would have made no difference when Williams stepped on Smith’s foot to trip the quarterback into a broken play for a loss of 6 yards on fourth down from the 1-yard line later in the first half.
Yet there’s no doubt Smith’s 8 air yards per pass against the Bills would have been higher if Metcalf had been testing Buffalo’s zone defense with his deep pass routes. He would have attracted his typical cloud coverage with a safety over the top of a cornerback on most plays.
Without Metcalf to worry about, the Bills shut down Tyler Lockett, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Smith’s passing game. Seattle was a season-worst 1 for 7 converting third downs without Metcalf.
“DK Metcalf is one of one, but we’ve got a lot of really good players that can play. We expect them to go in and execute at a high level,” Macdonald said following the game. “We need to be able to move the ball on the ground and in the air. We’ve got to be able to score in the red zone.
“DK wouldn’t have been out there on the goal line on the 1- or 2-yard line.”
Devon Witherspoon’s new issue
Pro Bowl cornerback Devon Witherspoon missed practice. The team listed him with a new foot injury.
Witherspoon played 69 of 76 defensive snaps against Buffalo last weekend, mostly inside at nickel, fifth defensive back. He and other starters yielded to reserves at the end of the blowout.
He missed three games last season as a rookie with injuries. That included the Rams’ last game in Seattle, Los Angeles’ 30-13 rout of the Seahawks at Lumen Field in week one of the 2023 season.
Witherspoon has played 95% of the defense’s snaps starting each of Seattle’s first eight games this season. He does not have an interception or a sack in 2024. He’s blitzed eight times in eight games with two pressures and one knockdown of the quarterback, per profootballreference.com.
He has 44 tackles -- but not, so far, the impact on defense he had last season with repeated big plays that earned him the Pro Bowl selection as a rookie.
This story was originally published October 30, 2024 at 4:55 PM.
