Seahawks Bench CB Riq Woolen For MNF vs. Eagles
Less than half an hour before kickoff, nobody knows who will be starting under center for the Seattle Seahawks against the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football, but the quarterback situation may not be the only one worth watching.
While Seattle hides its intentions on whether Geno Smith or Drew Lock will start, coach Pete Carroll appears to have made a dramatic change in the secondary to help spark Seattle's defense. During team warmups, Mike Jackson took all of the snaps at right cornerback across from Tre Brown, who returned to action after sitting out last week's lost to San Francisco. Veteran Artie Burns took the majority of snaps in the slot, taking the place of injured rookie Devon Witherspoon.
Though it's possible the Seahawks could be exhibiting gamesmanship up to the final minute, Jackson's inclusion with the first-team defense looks to be a strong indication the team has decided to bench Riq Woolen. Such a decision would be a significant one considering Woolen finished third in Defensive Rookie of the Year balloting last season and tied for the NFL lead with six interceptions.
Unfortunately, Woolen's stellar play hasn't fully carried over into his sophomore season. He underwent knee surgery during the offseason, which cost him a large chunk of training camp as he rehabbed. Behind the eight ball after his return, though he does have two interceptions, he has missed 10 tackles while consistently struggling as a run defender and allowed three touchdowns in coverage.
The choice to supplant Woolen with Jackson could boil down to rewarding the latter for a stellar performance against the 49ers replacing Brown last weekend. While the Seahawks got gashed for over 500 yards of offense, the fourth-year defender only gave up one catch on three targets for 25 yards and did a fine job, earning praise from Carroll earlier this week.
"Mike played a really good game," Carroll said of Jackson. "He had a great week last week and took advantage of the opportunity and he played well. He had a couple of knockdowns on third down, so I was really fired up about Mike getting back out. If we need him, he’s ready to go. We’ll see how that goes; he’ll get a lot of work today.”
It's possible Seattle may try to do a bit of platooning on the outside, but in the past, Carroll hasn't been a big fan of rotating cornerbacks. Riding a four-game losing streak and desperately needing a win, however, he may be willing to roll the dice and try something different with hopes of sparking a struggling defense.
