What’s up with injured Devon Witherspoon? Where’s Seahawks’ secondary minus him?
When will the Seahawks’ secondary be whole?
And just what is “whole” these days, anyway?
Those questions with Seattle’s defense revolve around a third: When is one of its best players playing again?
Devon Witherspoon, the Seahawks’ Pro Bowl cornerback in each of his first two NFL seasons, has played in only two of their first six games this season. He bruised the medial-collateral ligament in his knee Sept. 7 in the opening game.
Witherspoon has been at times away from the team getting tested, getting tested and getting tested again while trying to return. He did, for one game. Witherspoon played every snap at Arizona Sept. 25. He led the Seahawks with nine tackles and shared his first sack of the season in the team’s win over the Cardinals.
He hasn’t played since. It’s some wonder the Seahawks’ defense is sixth in the league allowing 19.5 points per game — and has been at times dominant aside from the 38 points the Buccaneers shredded them with two weeks ago — without Witherspoon playing.
Coach Mike Macdonald isn’t sounding like Witherspoon is playing in the Seahawks’ next game, either. That’s Monday night against the Houston Texans (2-3) at Lumen Field (7 p.m., ESPN).
The 37-year-old Macdonald, in his second season as a head coach, at times has been optimistic Witherspoon was returning. Other times he’s been saying he has no idea when that will be.
“Again, I’m learning through the health thing, but it’s a science,” Macdonald said Monday. “But also, things change. There are different opinions at hand, imaging, and testing on a daily basis. It’s a little bit more volatile than people would probably want, including me sometimes.
“But that’s just how you have to handle things. At some point we hope Devon’s out there this week.”
This is a different week for the Seahawks. They returned late Sunday night from winning at Jacksonville. They had meetings and reported for day-after treatment at team headquarters in Renton Monday. The players had their normal day off from practice Tuesday. They are going to be off again Wednesday, then practice fully Thursday, Friday and Saturday for their Monday night game.
“We’ve moved the schedule back. Basically, Monday night football you get the extra day,” Macdonald said. “We’re going to use the extra day here on the front end and then keep our normal weekly cadence starting on Thursday.
“So,” about Witherspoon, the coach said, “we’ll see as the week unfolds.”
Riq Woolen’s status
Witherspoon isn’t the only injured starting cornerback.
Riq Woolen was still in the league’s concussion protocol as of last weekend. He missed the game at the Jaguars. Every player and his brain heal at different rates for head injuries. Thursday will be the first indication whether Woolen has progressed to possibly being able to practice more this week.
Witherspoon’s and Woolen’s absences got 30-year-old veteran Shaquill Griffin promoted off the practice squad to start opposite Jobe last weekend at Jacksonville. It was his first start for Seattle since the final game of his rookie contract, Jan. 3, 2021, at San Francisco. If Witherspoon and Woolen can’t play against Houston Monday, Griffin may be back in against another one of his four former teams, the Texans. How’d he feel about his game last weekend, a 20-12 Seahawks win at Jacksonville?
“Oh, man, it felt good, being back in the Sunshine State,” the native of St. Petersburg, Fla., said with a big grin in the visiting locker room at Everbank Stadium. “But it’s even better getting the ‘dub’ (W, win) and takin’ it back to Washington, back to the 12s. Where it all started at.”
The Jaguars, whom Griffin signed with to leave Seattle for the 2021 season, tested the now-ninth-year veteran early in Sunday’s game in Jacksonville.
With no score in the first quarter, they sent two receivers to his right edge of Seattle’s defense. Parker Washington basically stood on the line of scrimmage, as if he was able to catch a quick pass from Trevor Lawrence on a bubble screen. The other Jags receiver there, Brian Thomas, ran into Griffin as if he was blocking for Washington on the quick screen pass.
Griffin and rookie safety Nick Emmanwori, playing the slot inside Griffin, both ran into the backfield at Washington. No one ran with Thomas off the contact with Griffin, outside and down the left sideline. Lawrence hit him wide open for a 21-yard touchdown and the game’s first score.
Griffin stood in disbelief. He turned to the Seahawks’ nearby sideline with his palms to the sky. Macdonald called him over to the edge of the sideline. They had a brief conversation.
“We had one miscommunication on the first touchdown, which again, that’s my job that we can execute that, and we didn’t. And we’ve got to make that come to life,” Macdonald said, choosing his words carefully. “That starts with me. We had a mishap there.”
Other than Jacksonville’s only score until the Seahawks led 20-6 in the fourth quarter, the head coach and defensive designer said of Griffin’s first game of his Seattle redux: “Shaq did a good job, made tackles on the perimeter, played with great eye control.
“(He was) sticky in coverage, played disciplined. Really positive.”
Macdonald had said Griffin had a great week of practice leading into the Jaguars game.
The News Tribune asked Griffin after the game what he focused on in those practices last week to impress the coaches, and in the game in Jacksonville.
“I just went back to the basics, doing the same things that I’m used to doing. I’ve been around for a while,” he said.
“Just tried to be the vet in the room.”
Nehemiah Pritchett an option
Another reason Griffin came up from the practice squad to play: Nehemiah Pritchett was injured. The second-year cornerback had played Oct. 5 against Tampa Bay when Witherspoon and Woolen both were out injured. But Pritchett, also a special-teams mainstay, had a hamstring issue into last weekend.
The fifth-round draft choice out of Auburn in 2024 replaced Woolen when Woolen got concussed in the second half of the Seahawks’ loss to the Buccaneers. On Pritchett’s second snap it appeared he missed the coverage as Tampa Bay rookie Emeka Egbuka ran by Pritchett to the back of the end zone to catch a touchdown pass from Baker Mayfield that gave the Bucs the lead in the third quarter.
Safety Coby Bryant was inside and behind Pritchett, who gave up inside position to Egbuka easily, as if he expected Bryant’s help on the inside seam route to the end zone. Bryant jumped up on a Bucs receiver crossing in front of him. That left the middle open for Egbuka to run away from Pritchett into for the former Steilacoom High School star’s fifth touchdown of his rookie season.
Last week, Macdonald said that score wasn’t Pritchett’s fault.
It was indication that if he’s healthy for Monday night against Houston, and Witherspoon and Woolen still aren’t, Pritchett may be the cornerback opposite Jobe against C.J. Stroud and the Texans.
“Nehemiah was the guy closest to the ball, so it’s easy to attribute to him, but that play is not on Nehemiah.” Macdonald said of the Egbuka TD in the Bucs game. “That’s on our defense and, really, everybody. He happens to be on the defense, so he takes part of it. I happen to be in charge of the defense, so I take part of it.
“Nehemiah did a good job. But that play is not solely on him. It’s not even close.”
This story was originally published October 15, 2025 at 7:44 AM.
