Seahawks Zach Charbonnet Gets Encouraging Health Update

Amid a small but noticeable collection of injuries not making much headway yet, we are getting some progress from one injured Seattle Seahawk.

Seattle Seahawks running back Zach Charbonnet (26) before the game against the Dallas Cowboys. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Unfortunately, the 2026 season for the Seattle Seahawks, to this point, has been defined by injury. Even though the team rallied to win the game anyway, Sam Darnold going down with a glute injury in the first few minutes of the season has cast a bit of a pall over proceedings already. That, combined with a flurry of other injuries, has been the main story.

Zach Charbonnet Returning To Practice

One of that flurry is a holdover from last year’s postseason, in the form of Zach Charbonnet. The change-of-pace running back tore his ACL in the divisional round against the San Francisco 49ers, missing the rest of the playoffs and starting this season on physically unable to perform list. It’s been a long road back, but we might be getting to the end of it.

Seattle Seahawks running back Zach Charbonnet (26) carries the ball as San Francisco 49ers cornerback Renardo Green (0) defends. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

According to Mike Macdonald yesterday, the team is working on coming up with a date for Charbonnet to start practicing again. His return in that capacity is ‘coming soon’, according to Mike. To the surprise of no one, he didn’t provide anything definite or make any promises, but the implication is clear. Zach Charbonnet’s debut isn’t far away.

Can He Miss The Minimum?

Mike also said that Zach is doing great, and we’ve heard nothing of significant roadblocks in his rehab, so it certainly lines up. He’s required by rule to miss the next three games at minimum, but could he be back for the home tilt against the San Francisco 49ers? We’ll probably find out pretty soon here, thanks to a fairly recent NFL rule change.

Seattle Seahawks running back Zach Charbonnet (26) carries the ball against the San Francisco 49ers. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Zach can’t play in an NFL game until week 5, but he can start practicing as early as next week. New NFL rules allow players on the PUP to open their 21-day practice window during the final two weeks of their mandated PUP term. This makes it realistic and feasible that he could get rolling against San Fran. So if Zach practices next week, that’s probably the goal.

A Needed Change Of Pace

The Seattle Seahawks can survive without Zach for now, but it’s not something I think they enjoy doing very much. Jadarian Price looked good in his first game, but there seems to be a clear plan to pace his usage and keep his load light. George Holani is a serviceable third down back, but there’s very little dynamic athleticism to his game. The difference in week 1 was stark.

Seattle Seahawks running back Zach Charbonnet (26) avoids a tackle against the Carolina Panthers. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Emanuel Wilson is a career backup with a couple games worth of evidence that he might be capable of good NFL production. Against the Patriots, the team showed relatively little belief in him with how little he played. This is a run-first offense, even when Darnold comes back, and it needs a certain level of talent in the backfield. Charbonnet is a significant part of this.

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