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Injury
Big Cat Took a Step Backward, and the 49ers Are Coming
Leonard Williams did not practice Thursday. He hurt his ankle in the fourth quarter against the Chargers and was limited on Wednesday, which the team’s own report called “a very encouraging note”. One day later he was a non-participant, listed with the ankle rather than a rest day, three days before the unbeaten 49ers walk into Lumen.
Nobody knows yet how to read it. ESPN’s Brady Henderson said it’s unclear whether Williams had a setback or the team is being careful, per Seattle Sports. Field Gulls makes the case for careful: Seattle plays at Denver next Thursday and barely practices for that one, so there’s reason to spare a 32-year-old’s ankle in early October. Macdonald on Monday, via Yahoo Sports: “I’d say we’re optimistic for the game, but we’ve got to see how the week goes.” Well, we’re seeing it, and it’s heading the wrong way.
4
Days between Sunday’s 49ers game and Thursday night in Denver, which is the whole case for the cautious read.
I don’t love it. Williams signed a $90 million extension this summer to be the guy in the middle, and Brock Purdy shows up 4-0 with an offense that has been humming. Byron Murphy II is a nightmare for any guard alive. He’s a bigger one when nobody can slide over to help because Big Cat is lined up right next to him.
The rest of Thursday’s sheet: Chazz Surratt sat again with his calf, and Ty Okada stacked a third straight full practice and figures to finally play. Friday’s designations settle the Williams question. Until then, refresh accordingly.
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Defense
The Defense Called a Meeting. No Coaches Invited.
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Four personal fouls in the second half helped turn a 27-6 lead into 30-23. Nick Emmanwori drew a dead-ball flag for a head butt late in the first half that set up a Chargers field goal. Williams started early: after Derick Hall’s roughing call on third-and-24, Big Cat was in Hall’s face on the walk to the sideline, per Seahawks.com. Hall recovered the game-ending strip-sack.
Before anybody panics, the league had 271 accepted penalties last week, the second-most in any week since 1978, per ESPN figures the Spokesman cited. And Seattle still allows fewer yards per game than anyone in football. The defense doesn’t need fixing. It needs to stop spotting people 15 yards at a time.
246.8
Total yards allowed per game by Seattle’s defense, first in the NFL, per SI.
Asked how often a meeting like this happens in a season, Jones kept it short: “Just once.” Spoken like a man who never wants to book that room again.
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AROUND THE COOP
Around the Coop
Zach Charbonnet is already ruled out for Sunday, but Sam Darnold gave his practice reps a glowing review: “He looks great. He’s sharp. He looks fresh, which he is.” That last clause is the most honest thing said all week. The man hasn’t been tackled since January. Heavy
Terrion Arnold’s case in Tampa returns to court Dec. 15 for a status hearing, still with no trial date. He stays on the commissioner’s exempt list until the league decides otherwise. So the cornerback depth chart you’re looking at is the one you get. Plan accordingly. Heavy
Fourteen of the experts in SI’s Week 5 roundup are taking Seattle. That includes CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco at 28-21, who reasoned that “The Seahawks are the healthier team.” Somebody forward Pete the Thursday injury report. SI
NFC WEST SCHADENFREUDE REPORT
RAMS
When the Rams host Buffalo on Monday, they become the first team in NFL history to play four of their first five games in prime time. Per PFT, the league did it mostly because the Rams were expected to be the best team in football. They are 2-2. After Monday they get five straight Sunday afternoons, which is exactly how a network treats a show it ordered too many episodes of. Bold of them to keep Christmas night, though.
NINERS
San Francisco leads the NFL at 6.8 yards per play, per CBS Sports. Seattle leads the NFL in yards per play allowed at 4.0. Something has to give Sunday. The last time these two met with something on the line, the Niners scored three points, their fewest since Kyle Shanahan’s first game in 2017. Best offense in football on paper. We’ve read the paper. We also remember the 13-3.
CARDINALS
Jeremiyah Love, the third overall pick, got out-snapped 36-30 by Tyler Allgeier in the loss to the Giants. He also wasn’t on the field for Arizona’s last drive with a chance to win it, because his ankle was getting worked on along the sideline. Mike LaFleur’s official update on that ankle: “maintenance.” Sure. The whole Cardinals season is in the shop. Love’s just the only part still under warranty.
SEACHICKENS TRIVIA
This undrafted linebacker out of Southern University made the Pro Bowl for his special teams play as a Seahawks rookie in 1988, then made it again in 1989 after a 10.5-sack season. Who is he?
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Rufus Porter. That 1989 season also earned him first-team All-Pro, and he spent seven seasons in Seattle before finishing his career with the Saints and Buccaneers.
THIS DAY IN SEAHAWKS HISTORY
2022
October 9, 2022
Kenneth Walker III Takes the Lead, Taysom Hill Takes It Back
With 6:54 left in New Orleans, Kenneth Walker III broke a 69-yard touchdown run to put Seattle up 32-31. The Saints needed 92 seconds of game clock to answer: Taysom Hill ran 60 yards for a touchdown, and New Orleans won 39-32. Hill finished with three rushing touchdowns and a touchdown pass. No Swiss Army knife has ever annoyed us more.
Got a Question? Bring It.
Ankle conspiracy theories, penalty math, whether Big Cat needs a bigger ice bag. Send it in and The Rooster might answer it in a future issue, with more patience than the officiating crew showed us last Sunday.
Ice the ankle. Keep your hands clean. — The Rooster