Pete Carroll: "Great chance" for Geno Smith to play despite triceps bruise
INGLEWOOD, CA - NOVEMBER 19: Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith (7) gets his arm wrapped by training staff during an NFL regular season game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Los Angeles Rams on November 19, 2023, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood
RENTON, Wash. - Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith doesn't have any structural damage in his elbow, but is dealing with swelling from a triceps bruise sustained in the third quarter of Sunday's loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Smith isn't expected to practice until Wednesday as the team will give him a few days of rest for the bruising to potentially subside.
"It's going to be a couple of days to make sure that we let him get back and it quiets down and all that," head coach Pete Carroll said on Monday. "They know the extent of it. There's no structural issue there but, you know, he's got a sore elbow. They're doing everything they can work through that. We'll see how it goes."
Smith was in the process of throwing a pass when Rams standout defensive tackle Aaron Donald came in to deliver a hit on him. Smith's throwing arm impacted the left arm of Donald in his throwing motion with a significant impact. Carroll said the injury isn't to Smith's elbow, but is bruising to his triceps area that is affecting the motion of his elbow.
"Anybody that's been kicked in the thigh or something, you get a quad bruise, it's kind of like that. It's in his triceps," Carroll said. "So it will take a couple days to see what happens. If he can't make it then Drew (Lock)'s ready to go and we'll see how that goes. Drew will get a couple of days of work while we hold Geno back until Wednesday. He'll get prepped, Geno will be getting prepped. We'll be OK and ready to be able to make the decision if we have to."
Smith admitted he was pretty sore after the game and his status for Thursday night's matchup with the San Francisco 49ers is uncertain. However, Smith said he managed to deal with the injury enough to return to action late in Sunday's game.
"I really just had to try to do my best to fight through the pain," Smith said. "That was the main thing is pain tolerance, and just try my best to just fight through it and keep going."
Carroll credited Smith's perseverance for being able to return to the game and lead the team into scoring range despite the pain he was dealing with.
"He was banged," Carroll said. "Now that was a heck of a hit that he took and not just to get back out but to execute that well I thought it was real impressive."
Smith finished the day completing 22-of-34 passes for 233 yards with a touchdown pass to DK Metcalf, which came on the opening drive of the game.
The Seahawks have a truncated week of practice with the Thursday night game against the San Francisco 49ers quickly approaching. The team will hold a practice on Monday, but it will be at a walkthrough tempo as players are still recovering from Sunday's game in Los Angeles. But even with the short timeframe, Carroll is confident Smith will be ready to play.
"It's just a matter of how sore he is and if we can maintain keeping the swelling down so that he has the freedom to throw," Carroll said. "He looked great when he went back out there. He's probably more sore today than he was, but we got a couple of days here. We really think that he's got a great chance to make it back."
Notes:
– Running back Ken Walker III is dealing with an oblique strain that forced him out of Sunday's loss to the Rams in the first quarter. Unlike Smith, Walker was unable to return to the game.
"They just confirmed that he's got an oblique strain and those kind of strains takes some time to figure it out," Carroll said. "So we've got to see how he does the next couple of days and see what that means. Don't know yet."
Zach Charbonnet took over the lead running back role in Walker's absence with a career-high 15 carries for just 47 yards against the Rams. DeeJay Dallas saw just one carry for four yards as the third running back on the roster.
Rookie running back Kenny McIntosh has been a healthy scratch the last two games as Seattle did not have enough spots on their game day roster to make him active for games. The Seahawks typically only keep three running backs active for gamedays and with Dallas serving as the team's kickoff and punt returner as well, McIntosh didn't have a chance to play.
But if Walker were to miss time, McIntosh is ready to get his first action for Seattle.
"I've been saying that to you guys that we just didn't have the opportunity yet. He'll go right to the front with this thing and he and Zack will be knocking it out with DeeJay until we know Kenny (Walker) is back and so McIntosh is ready to go. He needs to be ready play," Carroll said.
McIntosh injured his knee in a preseason scrimmage at Lumen Field and was placed on injured reserve to begin the season. He returned to practice with the team on October 25 and added him back to the roster two weeks later.
"He's got really good versatility and has catching ability in the throwing game," Carroll said. "He's a scat-back, got good quick, good change of direction, good movement and stuff. You guys haven't had a real good chance to see him yet, but we're really excited about the prospects of Kenny getting some shots here. So if that happens, we'll count on him to fill that role for us."
Carroll said they are not considering an injured reserve move for Walker at this point in time.
– Safety Jerrick Reed II sustained a knee injury in the loss to the Rams is expected to miss time.
"He hurt his knee. He definitely hurt his knee and he's going to miss time. So we'll let you know more about it in the next day or so but he got banged pretty good," Carroll said.
With the injury to Reed, the Seahawks designated cornerback Coby Bryant to return to practice from injured reserve. Bryant has played in just two games this season as a toe injury has kept him out of the lineup since Seattle's Week 2 win over the Detroit Lions. Bryant was placed on injured reserve in October and was eligible to return last week, but was held back one more week since Seattle didn't have a roster spot for him.
"He is ready to go," Carroll said last week about Bryant. "We’re just not ready to pull it yet because everybody is kind of hanging in there. We have to wait a little bit and it’s really week-to-week for us right now. He is capable and he’s really chomping at the bit to get out there."
If Reed is placed on injured reserve, that would open a roster spot for Bryant to return to the 53-man roster for Thursday night's game.
Additionally, the team re-signed tackle Jake Curhan to the practice squad after releasing him on Saturday to facilitate the promotion of tackle Jason Peters from the practice squad.
injury Report: