Pregame news from Nashville: Ernest Jones out; Kenneth Walker, Gray Zabel in
Ernest Jones coming back to play against his former Rams came at a price.
The middle linebacker and signal caller of the Seahawks defense was inactive, injured and out for the second time in three games Sunday when Seattle played at the Tennessee Titans.
Jones injured his right knee Nov. 2 in the Seahawks’ win at Washington. He missed the following game, the team’s blowout win over Arizona. He returned last week and played with a brace over his injured knee at Los Angeles, Seattle’s loss that knocked them out of the NFC West lead.
Tyrice Knight was also inactive Sunday against the Titans. He got concussed delivering a helmet-to-helmet tackle on a Rams kickoff return last week.
That meant the Seahawks’ first two inside linebackers Sunday were Drake Thomas and Patrick O’Connell. The team elevated O’Connell from the practice squad Saturday.
Also Saturday, the Seahawks put wide receiver Tory Horton on injured reserve. The rookie has missed the last two games with a shin injury. Now he will miss at least the next four. He first becomes eligible to return Dec. 18, Seattle’s rematch with the Rams at Lumen Field.
Kenneth Walker, Grey Zabel good to go
Kenneth Walker (glute) and Grey Zabel (knee) had been questionable to play. Both the lead running back and rookie left guard were active and good to go Sunday.
Walker was poised for more of a lead-back role than the job share he had in the first 10 games with Zach Charbonnet. That was according to what coach Mike Macdonald said this past week.
Macdonald said Monday coming out of Walker slashing past Rams for 62 yards rushing and Charbonnet slamming into those same defenders for just 37 in the Seahawks’ loss at Los Angeles last weekend that Walker deserves more than he’s been getting this season.
Charbonnet has played 49% of Seattle’s offensive snaps this season. Walker, the team’s lead back for his first three NFL seasons entering this one, has played 45%.
Walker has yet to play a full season since 2022 when Seattle with then-coach and top decision-maker Pete Carroll drafted him in the second round out of Michigan State. The following year the Seahawks drafted Charbonnet from UCLA in the second round.
Walker has played in all 10 games this season. He has 606 yards on 136 carries, an average of 4.5 yards per rush. That’s above his career average of 4.3. He has Seattle’s only 100-yard rushing game by a back this season, in week two at Pittsburgh.
Seahawks coaches have been managing Walker’s use all year. They held him out of offseason practices this spring. In August he missed parts of training camp with pain in his foot. That issue’s been below the high-ankle sprain he had on the same side last December that put Walker on injured reserve to end his 2024 season.
The idea has been to keep Walker preserved enough to get through all 17 games this season.
Monday, The News Tribune asked Macdonald if Walker and the team are through their managing his foot pain from the summer.
“Well, we’re not just going to give one of our running backs 100% of the snaps. That’s just not responsible for a whole season,” Macdonald said. “We’re not going that far.
“But to my knowledge (Walker feels) as good as you can feel going into Week 12. I think he’s pretty clean and healthy.”
Macdonald said he was surprised Zabel practiced at all this week, after how serious his knee injury looked with the big rookie down on the field late in the team’s loss at the Rams last weekend.
Magnetic resonance imaging tests Monday showed no structural damage.
“I mean, given what happened in the game, I am (surprised),” Macdonald said. “But you start to hear the results and see the tests...and who he is. I think we’re learning the type of guy he is.”
Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak on Thursday called the 6-foot-6, 315-pound Zabel “a little gangster” for his toughness practicing four days after the injury.
Robbie Ouzts active
Rookie fullback Robbie Ouzts also had been questionable after being away most of this week for a personal matter Macdonald didn’t disclose. Ouzts was active to play Sunday.
This story was originally published November 23, 2025 at 9:44 AM.
