Seattle Seahawks sign Cam Akers, bring Quandre Diggs back to practice squad

RENTON, Wash. - The Seattle Seahawks signed running back Cam Akers to the 53-man roster, and brought back veteran safety Quandre Diggs to their practice squad as part of a slew of roster moves on Wednesday.

Both moves backstop positions of need for Seattle this week after injuries to safety Ty Okada and running back George Holani from Sunday's 30-24 win over the Tennessee Titans.

"It's pretty cool because him and I talked when we first got here last year and had a great conversation. And obviously things worked out the way they did. Excited for him to be back," head coach Mike Macdonald said. "I know the building's really excited. I think he's excited. I know a lot of our guys are really fired up. So just see how it goes, but we're just doing a walk-through and he's spitting out calls. We'll see how it shakes out. But excited to see him practice today."

The Seahawks also signed cornerback Shaquill Griffin and linebacker Patrick O'Connel to the 53-man roster from the practice squad, and placed linebacker Chazz Surratt on injured reserve with an ankle injury. Running back Myles Gaskin and wide receiver Jimmy Holiday filled the open practice squad spots with tackle Logan Brown released from the practice squad.

Diggs returns to the Seahawks after spending the last year-plus playing for the Titans. He asked for his release from the Titans earlier this month and has been back home in Austin, Texas waiting for his next opportunity.

"Obviously, if I had the opportunity to come back, it was a no-brainer to me," Diggs said. "Just being around my guys, you know, people that literally, bro, like I talk to all the time, people I'm always around, so being back home has been dope."

Macdonald said that neither safety Julian Love or tight end Eric Saubert would be returning to the lineup this week from injured reserve. Love's continued absence heightened the need for safety help for Seattle as Okada is also day-to-day with an oblique injury.

"Day-by-day with Ty. Not going to practice today. We'll see tomorrow," Macdonald said. "Julian is still in the same process we're talking about. So he's not going to practice this week. He's not going to play.

Macdonald said that the hope is that Love will be back next week from the hamstring injury that has kept him out of the lineup for all but three games this season.

"We're hoping for next week, that's what we're shooting for. But I've been wrong before," Macdonald said.

Diggs had an extended conversation on the phone with head coach Mike Macdonald when he was hired last season and was excited about what he'd bring to the Seahawks. However, Diggs' large contract was too prohibitive for Seattle to keep at the time, which led to his release after five seasons with the Seahawks.

"It just didn't work out, you know what I mean," Diggs said. "Now I had the opportunity to come back and, you know, I just want to help any way I can."

Diggs said he'll be ready to play Sunday if called upon. While he didn't play for Macdonald, Titans defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson runs a similar scheme to Seattle's, as Macdonald and Wilson coached together in Baltimore.

"There's some differences, but I've been in the league a long time, man, so I'm pretty sure I can figure it out," Diggs said.

If Okada is out this week, that likely puts D'Anthony Bell into the starting lineup for Seattle with Diggs available to serve as the backup.

"We knew what type of player he was on special teams. He's a physical player out on defense as well," Macdonald said of Bell. "I think he's shown those things. Working to be as decisive as those guys. And he did a great job coming in and operating without a lot of reps, which is not that easy thing to do from what we ask our safeties to do, so that was really cool."

Akers has spent time with the Minnesota Vikings in each of the last three seasons. He's appeared in three games this year for the Vikings, rushing for 19 yards on five carries. He was released by Minnesota on Saturday and will face his former team this week.

"In my time with him in LA, he was a dangerous finisher of runs," receiver Cooper Kupp said of Akers. "He's just a violent runner. So tough to bring down and a really strong dude. Obviously, been through a lot of stuff, gone through some tough injury stuff, fought through things. So, pretty cool to see some of that stuff that he’s done, and to be able to experience it firsthand. I’m glad he’s here."

Akers, and Gaskin on the practice squad, add depth at running back for Seattle as Holani injured his hamstring last week in Tennessee.

"A lot of respect for Cam, has a lot of relationships with him from prior stops. System familiar to ours. Expect him to step right in and do a great job," Macdonald said.

Macdonald said that they were hoping to get cornerback Derion Kendrick back to the practice squad after being placed on waivers on Tuesday. Instead, the Rams claimed Kendrick off waivers to bring him back to Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, Griffin takes Kendrick's spot on the 53-man roster.

"Shaq's been doing a great job and felt like that was the right move," Macdonald said. "It wasn't just like a one-for-one, just subbing out D.K. for Shaq. There were other things going on roster-wise is what helped drive that decision."

O'Connell also got moved to the active roster after playing well in his first start last week in Tennessee.

"He's a guy that's always been available," Macdonald said. "He takes a ton of reps. He practices 100 miles an hour all the time. Nobody's perfect in those moments, but as a coach you respect the effort and the competitor. … When you play well enough to be on an NFL team and you don't make the team, that's a hard thing to do. And so it speaks a lot for him to go back and just keep attacking it like he did. That's why you're so happy for him."

Surratt's season could be over following his move to injured reserve with an ankle injury. The Seahawks are starting to run thin on their available number of players they can bring back from injured reserve and a special teams specialist may not rate highly enough in priority to be activated before the end of the regular season.

Fullback Robbie Ouzts has already been activated, and Love and Saubert will likely be activated in the near future for a total of three. Nose tackle Jarran Reed (wrist) and wide receiver Dareke Young (quadriceps) are eligible next week, center Jalen Sundell (knee) can return in Week 15, and wide receiver Tory Horton (shin) is eligible in Week 16. 

Teams only get eight players they can bring back from injured reserve during the season.

Additionally, the Seahawks opened their 21-day practice window for rookie defensive end Rylie Mills from the non-football injury list. Mills has been out for Seattle all season as he recovers from a torn ACL sustained last year playing for Notre Dame.

"Told the team this morning too and they're fired up," Macdonald said. "Rylie's been working extremely hard, and he's been locked in. And I know he's been anticipating this moment for a long time. And just got to go out there play the game you've played his whole life. It's been a minute since he's played. It's going to be great to see him out there in uniform, with a helmet on. It'll be really cool."

Macdonald said last week that it will take time for Mills to get into a position where he can re-join the roster as he hasn't done anything football-related since last December in college. Coming from the non-football injury list, Mills does not count against Seattle's IR-return allotment.

Injury Report:

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