Seattle Seahawks rule out Zach Charbonnet vs Chiefs
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JANUARY 17: Zach Charbonnet #26 of the Seattle Seahawks enters the field during player introductions prior to an NFL divisional playoff football game against the San Francisco 49ers at Lumen Field on January 17, 2026 in Seattle, (Brooke Sutton / Getty Images)
RENTON, Wash. - Running back Zach Charbonnet will not make his season debut this Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs as the Seattle Seahawks officially ruled him out on Friday.
Charbonnet is still just 8 ½ months removed from ACL surgery and has only had a few days of full participation at practice. He hasn't had a setback in his recovery, he's just not ready yet to play in a game.
"Plan was to get a great week's worth of work and see where we're at, and so we're going take it in next week," head coach Mike Macdonald said. "I'd just say it's part of the plan. Zach's doing great, and we'll go into next week and see how it goes.
Additionally, linebackers Drake Thomas (ankle) and Chazz Surratt (calf) have also been ruled out. Linebacker Connor O'Toole (hamstring), safety Nick Emmanwori (hip), linebacker Uchenna Nwosu (hip) and linebacker DeMarcus Lawrence (knee), and quarterback Drew Lock (right elbow) are listed as questionable.
Right guard Anthony Bradford is expected to be activated from the injured reserve list on Saturday and he'll start against Kansas City on Sunday night.
The backstory:
Macdonald has seemed to caution fans about the speed of Charbonnet's return at times in recent weeks.
"He looks tremendous," Macdonald said of Charbonnet last week ahead of the Denver Broncos game.. "I know he's working through it on how we're going to handle the situation. Right now, we're focused on playing a game. He's not playing this game, so he's going to be cheering us on, and he'll move forward. We're not even at nine months, guys. … It's pretty remarkable that we're even having this conversation."
Seattle had to activate Charbonnet on Thursday as his 21-day practice window had come to an end on the physically unable to perform list. If they hadn't done so, Charbonnet would have been out for the season. However, that doesn't mean that he's ready to play in a game just yet.
"Whenever I'm out there, it's going to be special. I'm just going to be happy to get back out there," Charbonnet said on Thursday.
Charbonnet was a full participant in practice all three days this week. But that's the first three days of full participation he's had since the injury. Charbonnet said the first day of full participation on Wednesday was a big benchmark for him.
"I think that was just huge from, not even my knee, just from my body in general," Charbonnet said. "Just because I haven't been doing all the... It's different from just doing drills to actually going and integrating a practice and stuff like that. So yeah, I think it was an important milestone to get to and to get more used to and comfortable."
Macdonald was firm that he hadn't had any setback. He's just not ready to go yet.
"No setback, no, no," Macdonald said. "If anything, it's going as good as we could hope it could go."
Charbonnet is still progressing. It just won't result in him playing against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night.
Dig deeper:
Thomas and Surratt will both miss a second straight game due to their injuries.
Macdonald was the one first to relay the final injury report of the week to reporters, and he didn't mention either Nwosu or Lawrence. That could be a strong inclination that both are expected to play despite their listing as questionable. Nwosu was limited in practice on Thursday and Friday with a new hip injury, and Lawrence was limited those two days as well with a knee issue after being given a rest day on Wednesday.
O'Toole returned to limited participation in practice on Friday after missing the previous two days.
Meanwhile, Lock has been limited all week with a right elbow injury that first surfaced a week ago.
Emmanwori was added to the injury report on Friday with a new hip issue.
Roster Moves:
The Seahawks released veteran cornerback Trevon Diggs on Friday and signed wide receiver Irvin Charles from the practice squad to the active roster.
Diggs is a vested veteran and did not have to go through waivers, allowing him to re-sign to the team's practice squad without being vulnerable to other teams.
The team will still need to make a roster move to add Bradford to the active roster on Saturday. With Charles giving Seattle six wide receivers on the roster, waiving Montorie Foster Jr. could be the corresponding move to do so coming on Saturday. Foster has been inactive for each of Seattle's last five games since playing in the opener against the New England Patriots in place of an injured Tory Horton.
With all the linebacker injuries, the Seahawks will need to bring up at least one linebacker option from the practice squad for the game against the Chiefs. Jimmy Ciarlo was elevated to play last week in Denver, and recently re-signed practice squad linebacker Josh Ross would be an option as well.
Ross played in 10 games for Seattle in 2024, so he has familiarity with the Seahawks' schemes and coaches.
Injury Report:
The Source: Information in this story comes from FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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