Seattle Seahawks down to fourth-string right tackle as Michael Jerrell to start
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - AUGUST 24: Michael Jerrell #65 of the Seattle Seahawks runs out of the tunnel prior to an NFL preseason football game against the Cleveland Browns at Lumen Field on August 24, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. The Seahawks defeated t (Alika Jenner / Getty Images)
RENTON, Wash. - The Seattle Seahawks will be without cornerbacks Riq Woolen and Tre Brown, and fourth-string tackle Michael Jerrell is set to start against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
Woolen and Brown were both ruled out by the team due to ankle injuries, while right tackle Stone Forsythe will miss the game due to a hand injury. It will be the second straight game missed for Woolen, who injured his ankle against the New York Giants.
"We'll make a couple of moves tomorrow," head coach Mike Macdoanld said of the cornerback spot. "Faion (Hicks) will come up. Josh Jobe will come up and play. The other guys on the roster will get a great opportunity to go out there and show what they can do. I'm excited to see them play."
The cornerback position is suddenly extremely short-handed for Seattle. Woolen and Brown are out this week, and Artie Burns was placed on injured reserve due to a lingering toe injury earlier this week. That leaves Devon Witherspoon, rookie Nehemiah Pritchett and Coby Bryant as available options currently on the 53-man roster to handle the position.
Hicks and Jobe were signed to the team's practice squad at the end of training camp despite not being with the team throughout the preseason. Jobe has appeared in 28 games for the Philadelphia Eagles over the last two seasons with three starts, while Hicks appeared in two games last season for the Denver Broncos.
Regardless, it's far from the depth the team had in training camp when the position seemed one of the deepest on the entire roster.
Tackle has also been severely impacted due to injuries. Abe Lucas has yet to practice with the team as he continues his rehab from knee surgery, and George Fant remains on injured reserve due to a knee injury from the season opener against the Broncos. Forsythe has started the last five games for Seattle, but a hand injury suffered last week will keep him out against the Falcons on Sunday.
"He had some stuff messed up with his hand, so he got it fixed. He'll be back soon," Macdonald said.
However, that means Jerrell – a sixth-round pick out of Division II Findlay (Ohio) – will make his first career start this weekend.
"He had a great week of prep," Macdonald said. "The guy has just kept improving since he's gotten here. He's come such a long way in less than a year. (I'm) proud of him, and he's got a great opportunity. I know he's excited and (I'm) excited to see him go do his thing."
The Seahawks chose to go with Jerrell over 41-year-old veteran Jason Peters, who signed to the practice squad two weeks ago.
"Good progress," Macdonald said of Peters. "He's not coming up this week, but we're excited about Jason. He's doing a great job."
Jerrell has made an impression on the coaching staff with his development since training camp.
"The physical tools, absolutely," Macdonald said. "And then the game slowed down for him tremendously. I know he's working his tail off, and he's banked a lot of great one-on-one reps against our ones in practice. He's got a great future. This is hopefully the start of it."
The right tackle spot has been a problem for Seattle this season. Nick Bosa created 14 pressures against Forsythe last week for the San Francisco 49ers, and Aiden Hutchinson had 10 pressures in Week 3 for the Detroit Lions. Per NFL Research, Bosa and Hutchinson are the only two players with double-digit pressures in a game this season and they both came against Forsythe and the Seahawks.
Safety Jerrick Reed II will not be activated from the PUP list to play this week. He saw his first week of practice with the team and will have two more weeks he can practice before he needs to join the roster.
Nose tackle Byron Murphy II will return to action after a three-week absence due to a hamstring injury.
"It's great to see Murph come back," Macdonald said. "We had a physical practice on Wednesday and (he) really showed what he can do in the run game. Excited for him to come back, get rolling, and get those combinations up front with our d (defensive) line that we haven't had the last few weeks."
Macdonald said safety Rayshawn Jenkins had surgery on Friday to address his injured hand, which led to his placement on injured reserve early in the week. Jenkins played with a club on his left hand the last two games before having surgery. He is expected back this season.
New acquired defensive tackle Roy Robertson-Harris will also make his debut this week.
"As we expected, it’ll be fun to see him go out there and play," Macdonald said. "Picked it up really quickly. Just a smart guy, great guy, physical. He's enormous, which is good. You like big players, (he's a) big strong guy. It will be fun to see him go do his thing. "
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