Wagner didn't practice all week as he dealt with a hamstring injury.
The Seahawks were embarrassed by the Rams on Sunday, plain and simple. Seattle had a chance to seize first place in the NFC West with a victory, but the Rams jumped out to 13-0 lead just six minutes into the game and took a 34-0 lead into halftime.
The Rams coasted to a 42-7 victory and took a stranglehold in the division on Seattle's home field, so it's not surprising that the vibe in the Seahawks' locker room isn't all positive. It is, however, quite surprising to see one of Seattle's leaders say that a teammate shouldn't have played.
All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner missed practice all week as he dealt with a hamstring injury, but he gave it a go on Sunday. Wagner wasn't moving particularly well on the field, but his play was far from the only reason Seattle got blown out.
After the game, Seattle's Pro Bowl safety Earl Thomas said he didn't think Wagner should have played in the game at all. He was asked by a reporter after the game how much Seattle's multitude of injuries to defensive players—stars Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor are out for the season, and K.J. Wright did not play, among others—contributed to Sunday's performance.
Earl Thomas doesn't think All-Pro LB Bobby Wagner should have played with bad hamstring for #Seahawks in blowout loss to Rams. "The backups would have done just as good." @thenewstribune pic.twitter.com/svmgAOE3D5
— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) December 18, 2017
"To be totally honest, I think the guys that played, you know, you gotta give your hats off to Wags and a couple of guys that played," Wagner said. "But my personal opinion, I don't think they should have played. The backups would have did just as good. But, you know the injuries—Kam, Sherm, K.J.—it definitely hurt today."
Wagner responded to Thomas' comments with a tweet that has since been deleted.
"E keep my name out yo mouth," the Tweet read. "Stop being jealous of other peoples success. I still hope you keep balling bro"
Bobby Wagner's initial response, soon deleted, to Earl Thomas' opinion Wagner should not have played with his injured hamstring for #Seahawks in today's blowout loss to Rams pic.twitter.com/emiCl9PnVa
— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) December 18, 2017
It's unlikely that Thomas meant anything personal by his comments, and he was probably directing his criticism at the training and coaching staff more so than any players. But it's certainly not every day that you see a veteran like Thomas call out one of his teammates by name after a blowout loss.
