RENTON — The Seahawks could use a revived rushing attack Saturday when they play Kansas City without injured receiver Tyler Lockett, just the third missed game in his eight-year NFL career.
But as they returned to practice Tuesday from a mini-bye following Thursday’s 21-13 loss to the 49ers, it was unclear who might run the ball.
Rookie Kenneth Walker III had 47 yards on 12 carries against the 49ers after missing a loss to Carolina because an ankle injury.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said before practice Tuesday that Walker was “a little sore coming out” and would not practice, and then seemed to imply it’s not certain that Walker will play against the Chiefs.
“We will see how this week goes,” Carroll said. “We have to give him every day to get back.”
Shortly after, it was revealed that the Seahawks had re-signed veteran Wayne Gallman to the practice squad.
Gallman, who has played in 61 NFL games and rushed for 682 yards with the Giants in 2020, signed to Seattle’s practice squad Dec. 6 in the wake of the injuries to Walker and DeeJay Dallas against the Rams. Gallman was released off the practice squad Thursday, when the Seahawks signed receiver Jaylen Smith to the practice squad.
Gallman’s return, Carroll’s comments and Walker missing practice made for a situation that was eyebrow raising.
But Seattle may simply want more depth with Dallas’ situation also uncertain. He suffered a high-ankle sprain against the Rams and has not played the past two weeks.
Asked if Dallas has a chance to return this week, Carroll said: “He says he does, he’s clamoring for it. You have to love the guy, he’s all over it. He’s trying to talk to trainers to let him do everything before they want him to. If it can happen, he will make that happen.”
With Walker and Dallas missing practice Tuesday, Seattle had five healthy running backs — Travis Homer and Tony Jones Jr. (who are each on the 53-man roster) and practice-squad players Gallman, Darwin Thompson and Godwin Igwebuike.
With whoever is carrying the ball, the Seahawks will have to get more out of the ground game. After rushing for 112 or more yards in six of seven games from the third game of the year against Atlanta to the ninth game against Arizona (five of which were wins), the Seahawks have not rushed for more than 90 in any of their past five (four losses).
“It just has not been clean like we want it to (be),” Carroll said. “Those guys are still working hard and busting their tails, but more than anything we just need to keep doing it. We just need to keep doing it, taking our swings, and the plays will pop. I just want more frequency.”
Metcalf says he won’t change
Receiver DK Metcalf has received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in three of Seattle’s past five games, including Thursday when he was flagged for jawing with 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw.
Metcalf on Tuesday, though, said he doesn’t plan to change anything.
“When I’m beating someone’s butt like I do when I’m blocking, sometimes the officials don’t like that,” Metcalf said. “I’m just going to continue to play football how I know how to play it, and that’s in between the whistle. You can’t stop that.”
Metcalf said he received no explanation about what earned the flag Thursday and added that he had not been notified by the NFL if he will be fined, as he was for the previous two flags.
Metcalf’s penalty Thursday came early in the second quarter. Had he received another, he would have been ejected from the game. Metcalf said getting a penalty early in the game didn’t change the way he played.
“No, because I’m not going to stop blocking or playing aggressive, because that’s a part of who I am,” Metcalf said. “That’s who I am as a player, and that’s why the Seahawks drafted me, because I’m a competitor and I block my butt off. I’m not going to stop doing that.”
Carroll: Ignore the weather
The forecast in Kansas City, Missouri, calls for a high of just 15 degrees with a low of seven for a game set to kickoff at noon Central time, which according to the Seahawks would be their second-coldest game ever.
Carroll, though, said the Seahawks won’t do anything out of the ordinary to prepare for it — the team practiced inside at the VMAC on Tuesday.
“Not much,” he said of whether the Seahawks will change anything in their preparation. “We can’t do much about it. It’s going to be just as cold on their side, too, so we just have to be ready. There is going to be some clothing that we will wear that will help us adapt.”
The Seahawks played the third-coldest game in NFL history in the playoffs in 2016 at Minnesota, winning 10-9. Asked if there was anything from that game that would help now, Carroll said: “Yeah, that it doesn’t matter how cold it is. You can still go out there and play wherever you are going and win the football game.”
Notes
- Aside from Walker and Dallas, also sitting out practice Tuesday were WR Tyler Lockett (hand), TE Noah Fant (knee), S Ryan Neal (knee), NT Al Woods (Achilles) and LB Darrell Taylor (illness). Neal played through a sore knee for a few weeks, and Carroll hinted he expects that could happen this week. Woods sat out against the 49ers because of an injury suffered against Carolina, and Carroll said it’s unclear if he will play Saturday. “He’s sore, and we’re going to have to wait the week out and see what happens later on,” Carroll said. “But right now he can’t go today.”
- Among those who did practice is linebacker Jordyn Brooks, who missed much of the fourth quarter against the 49ers because of a neck injury. “He’s practicing, so we will see how it turns out for the week, but he’s really determined to play,” Carroll said.