Seahawks Get Frustratingly Little Movement in Thursday Injury Report

Meet the new injury report, same as the old injury report. Well, almost.

The Seahawks and Rams hit us with a second report this week after Thursday practice. Neither team is likely to be completely thrilled with what they see, but it’s worth noting that both head coaches seem confident they’re going to have the needed players when the game starts on Sunday. Both fanbases will hope their confidence is well-placed.

For the Seahawks, the list may be long, but again ends up providing minimal actual concern. Demarcus Lawrence, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Leonard Williams, who were resting yesterday and had limited participation, were ramped up to full today and seem completely ready to go. If there was concern before (there wasn’t), there’s none now.

Elijah Arroyo (knee) and Chazz Surratt (ankle) both got in full days of practice as well, the only question remaining for them being team need rather than health. Surratt seems like an obvious candidate to hold back, as the team has sufficient depth at linebacker without him, but Arroyo could be an appealing activation to add a dimension to Seattle’s passing attack.

George Holani (hamstring) was full yet again, with every indication being he’s going to be ready to roll on Sunday. I predict a non-trivial role for him in the offense, with the possibility of him swinging this game. Tyrice Knight (shoulder) went in full as well, and they added Uchenna Nwosu (hamstring) to their ranks. Nwosu was limited yesterday but seems ready to roll.

Sam Darnold (oblique) is improving and did some throwing today but remained limited, which should be the expectation at this point. There’s no reason to believe Darnold has gotten any worse since last week, when the injury did not affect his ability to play. Robbie Ouzts (neck) is worth watching after a second straight limited practice. Ditto for Bryce Cabeldue (knee).

The issue remains at left tackle. Charles Cross (foot), Josh Jones (knee, ankle), and Amari Kight (knee) all sat out practice for the second straight day, a concerning trend at a position where Seattle really needs something for Sunday’s game. As of right now, the team doesn’t really have one, and would have to make something up on the fly for a game.

The good news is Macdonald spoke about Cross earlier today, and remained confident and optimistic he would be available for Sunday. It’s not entirely comfortable at the moment, but it does sound like this is more about making sure Cross doesn’t get hurt in practice rather than him being too hurt to play right now. Hopefully, this assessment is true.

Macdonald doesn't think there's anything to worry about with Cross. — Seattle Seahawks tackle Charles Cross (67) against the Arizona Cardinals. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Jones is trickier, as he was out last week and hasn’t practiced in full since before week seventeen. As long as Cross (and Abraham Lucas) make it through the game without incident, it doesn’t particularly matter, but Jones has proven to be a reliable backup, and losing him at this point of the season has been a difficult thing to get through.

The Los Angeles Rams maintain their fairly short report. ED Josaiah Stewart (knee) was full yet again, and S Quentin Lake (illness) returned from whatever ailed him temporarily to participate in full today. If there was any doubt about him playing this weekend, that should be dispelled now.

CB Emmanuel Forbes (shoulder) remains limited, and seems likely to play in a hampered state. The Rams added RT Rob Havenstein (ankle) as a limited participant as well, but it’s worth noting that Havenstein was activated from injured reserve earlier today and has been out for some time. Warren McClendon Jr has played well at right tackle, so there’s no impact here.

Even if Havenstein was healthy, McClendon would probably keep the starting job due to his superior play at the position. There’s actually only one notable absence from this Rams practice report, although it’s potentially a pretty big one.

ED Byron Young (knee) misses a second straight day of practice, putting the Rams in at least a mild state of concern that their top edge rusher and leading quarterback sacker will miss the Sunday game. Sean McVay insists that they’re playing it safe with him and they expect him to play, so there’s no sense in having a big reaction until tomorrow, but he’s not 100%.

There wasn’t as much positive movement as the Seahawks were probably hoping for today, but if Macdonald can be trusted on this matter the team should be more or less fully loaded for the conference championship game. And the same goes for the Rams.

McVay claims they're playing it safe with Byron Young this week. — Los Angeles Rams linebacker Byron Young (0) is seen during the fourth quarter against the Detroit Lions. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

More Seahawks on SI stories