Rashid Shaheed Injury Update: Seahawks WR Leaves Early In Third Quarter

So far, pretty good for the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday Night Football, with the exception of the first notable injury of the evening to Shaheed.

NFL Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Rashid Shaheed. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Seahawks are leading 10-0 in the third quarter and are looking to expand that lead in the coming minutes, but they’ll have to try that expansion without Rashid Shaheed. The receiver exited the game with a knee injury, being labeled questionable to return by the team. He’s missed at least a few plays here, so the wound is at least of note.

The Cost

Shaheed has been mostly quiet so far today, with two catches for one yard as the team has attempted to get him involved via bubble screens. He has, however, gotten one big punt return that sparked a scoring drive that wasn’t right before halftime. In his absence, the Seahawks will turn to Tory Horton, Cooper Kupp, and (of course) Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

Shaheed has been isolated as one of the big disappointments so far this season for the Seahawks, having not yet been implemented as a reliable and significant part of the offense. Plenty of people believe that Horton deserves snaps over him, so to those people, this may not be much of a loss at all. But his impact on special teams is always felt, and he represents a downfield threat.

The Outlook

Shaheed was seen going to the locker room with a trainer. He gave a thumbs up on his way, so it doesn't seem particularly dire, but it could easily be enough to keep him out the rest of the night. Noting that we don't have much information to work with yet, I don't get the sense that it's going to be overly long-term, but it's so hard to make such evaluations right now.

The injury will certainly compel the Seahawks to commit to the run even harder than they already have. Through the first two and a half quarters, Seattle has run a lot, especially on early downs. Losing a big play receiver will likely exacerbate that, although holding a lead in the second half is also a powerful motivatior. I believe this team will be fine without him for now.

Next Up

If Seattle can find their way to just one more score and get things into the fourth, Shaheed wouldn't figure much into the gameplan anyway. Although I'll always wonder about his viability as a pitch play specialist out of the backfield.

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