When Will Zach Charbonnet Play for Seahawks? Mike Macdonald Gives Hint

The Seattle Seahawks are about to get a boost in the backfield as running back Zach Charbonnet returns to practice.

Charbonnet tore his ACL in the team's Divisional Round game against the San Francisco 49ers back in January. He underwent surgery a few weeks later and has been on the road to recovery ever since.

Now that the calendar has turned to October, Charbonnet is inching closer to a return. The team designated him to return to practice yesterday, and he was seen on the field for practice ahead of the team's Week 4 contest against the Los Angeles Chargers. Charbonnet is ineligible to play this week against the Chargers, as his placement on the physically unable to perform list prohibits him from playing in the team's first four games.

Charbonnet is eligible to return in Week 5 against the 49ers, but that doesn't mean he'll be back right away.

"It's a matter of how many practices they need, roster spots and things like that. He's doing a great job and he's in a great position mentally," Macdonald said via the team's website.

"It's just about what's the best time and how does that create the most opportunities to get them ready to play? We've got the Denver week. There's not a lot of great practice (opportunities) that week. How does that affect it? There are some other things going on that we've just got to work through, but we'll decide by tomorrow. He'll either practice tomorrow, or he won't."

Zach Charbonnet Return is Coming Soon

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

The Seahawks have 21 days to place Charbonnet on the active roster. Otherwise, he will be unable to play for the team for the rest of the season. This means Charbonnet is expected to return in either Week 5 on October 11, Week 6 on October 15 against the Denver Broncos on Thursday Night Football or Week 7 against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday Night Football.

It will all be determined by how he responds to his return to practice, which has officially begun. The fact that he's already practicing with the team makes him likely to return sooner rather than later.

With the team's short week going into Week 6, it's hard to imagine they would want him to play in two games within 5 days of each other. I would expect him to make his 2026 debut against the Broncos. That gives the team some depth in the backfield for that short week and allows Charbonnet an additional amount of time to heal for his next game, 10 days later against the Chiefs.

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