Grey Zabel wows Seahawks after knee injury and is humbled by Jeffery Simmons
So is Grey Zabel indestructible now, too?
“No,” he said, scoffing. “Far from it.”
The rookie guard meant he didn’t feel like a superhero after getting what he thought was schooled by the Titans’ exquisite defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons in much of the Seahawks’ 30-24 win at Tennessee Sunday.
But the point was: Zabel was superheroic for even being on the field at Nissan Stadium.
Seven days earlier, the starter at left guard since his first NFL practice day in May — Seattle’s highest-drafted interior offensive lineman since Hall of Famer Steve Hutchinson in 2001 — was face down on the turf at SoFi Stadium outside Los Angeles. The 6-foot-6, 316-pound Zabel needed two team assistants to hold most of his weight as he dragged himself off the field and into the locker room late in the Seahawks’ loss to the Rams.
He was like his coaches, teammates and all the Pacific Northwest. He feared the worst.
The News Tribune asked Zabel in the visiting locker room in Nashville Sunday evening if when he was on both knees in Inglewood last weekend he thought he’d be starting this weekend.
Zabel shook his head.
“No. Nope,” he said.
“That was kind of the worst part, is the shock hits you right away. The worst thoughts are going through your head about what happened.
“Huge shoutout to our training staff, our doctors. One, for having a plan, and two, getting me back to play today.”
Turns out, Zabel was the one with the plan.
He’d been wanting this game for six months. He wanted the challenge of playing Simmons, Tennessee’s three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle.
“He’s a guy, it’s one of those deals you see the schedule and you know the player, you know how well he does, how good he is for this game,” Zabel said. “This game was definitely circled on the list, to go up against him.
“I was glad I was able to make it back to play against him.”
Even on only one good leg.
He said he sensed after magnetic resonance imaging tests Monday showed no structural damage to his knee that he would play Sunday. He missed practice Wednesday. Thursday, he surprised coach Mike Macdonald by jogging onto the practice field and participating with his starting linemen, as if nothing had happened.
Friday, the Seahawks listed him officially as “questionable” to play the Titans.
To Zabel, there was no question in that questionable. Just able.
“I’ll tell you what, this guy is unbelievable,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said after his team’s eighth win in 10 games got Seattle to 8-3. “He wanted to go in against their front.
“And I mean, what else can you say about the guy? Just elite competitor. Tough as crap. Yeah, we love him.
“It felt like he played really good football, too. So, happy for him.”
Grey Zabel, perfectionist
Zabel didn’t think he played really good football Sunday.
The perfectionist wasn’t happy with his false-start penalty. Or his holding penalty. Both of those came in the first half, though the second one got offset in the red zone by a Titans defensive penalty for a replay of the down.
And Simmons was a load.
One year ago Sunday, Zabel was in Vermillion in his home state of South Dakota playing for his North Dakota State Bison of the Football Championship Subdivision.
Sunday he was in Nashville repelling one of the NFL’s elite defensive linemen.
Again, as he has in every one of his first 11 games as a pro, Zabel often blocked not one but two defenders out of one play. Yet he wasn’t satisfied with how he played against Simmons. That’s even though the titan of all Titans had only two tackles and one hit on Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold.
Zabel still hasn’t allowed a sack this season.
You wouldn’t have known that by talking to him after this win, though.
“Ninety-eight is a pretty good ball player. And he humbled me, pretty quickly,” Zabel said. “He’s a good player.”
Simmons lined up over Seahawks center Olu Oluwatimi. He lined up on Zabel. He went at left tackle Charles Cross. He was all over the line, and all into Seattle’s.
Asked what in particular about the 6-4, 305-pound Simmons challenged him, Zabel sighed. Then he chuckled.
“How long do you want to be here for?” Zabel said. “He’s competitive. He’s hungry. It’s one of those deals you try to short-set him he’s quick enough to get the edge on you, rush high. You try and sit back on him, he’s powerful enough to take you in bull (straight rush). You overset him he takes the inside rush really well.
“He’s an All-Pro player. I mean, as a rookie, you just try to go out there and stay in front of him. We are going to go back, watch the film. I’m going to learn a lot from it today.”
This story was originally published November 23, 2025 at 4:31 PM.
