Team news: Seattle Seahawks | Page 7

Pete Carroll says he expects Kenneth Walker III to play Saturday as well as DeeJay Dallas. Said Neal’s knee just didn’t bounce back this time.

Related Players: Travis Homer

If all is well with the backfield health, Ken Walker will return to his role of workhorse while Dallas and Homer split the leftovers. Walker can be considered an RB2 for Week 16.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said before practice Tuesday that Ken Walker was “a little sore coming out” and would not practice, and then seemed to imply it’s not certain that Walker will play against the Chiefs.

“We will see how this week goes,” Carroll said. “We have to give him every day to get back.”

Related players: Wayne Gallman, Travis Homer, DeeJay Dallas

Shortly after, it was revealed that the Seahawks had re-signed veteran Gallman to the practice squad, which is at least a sign they aren't sure of Walker's status for Week 16. Walker is dealing with what the team was calling a "jammed" foot, which caused him to miss Week 14's game. Seattle travels to KC in an early Saturday game so owners will be able to adjust lineups depending on Walker's status.

Seahawks receiver Tyler Lockett underwent surgery on his hand Monday, coach Pete Carroll announced. Lockett could return as soon as Week 17.

Carroll called the surgery “perfect.”

Related players: Marquise Goodwin, Penny Hart, Dareke Young, D.K. Metcalf

Lockett broke his finger in last Thursday’s loss to the 49ers. He has 78 receptions for 964 yards and eight touchdowns this season. With Lockett out, Metcalf should be the top target with Goodwin likely stepping into the WR2 role and he may be worth a look if he's still on your wire.

Wide receiver Tyler Lockett suffered a broken finger against the San Francisco 49ers, Seattle head coach Pete Carroll announced after the game, and there is uncertainty as to whether he'll be able to play again this season. NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Friday that Lockett suffered a spiral crack in his first metacarpal, an injury that will force him out for at least two games and indeed threatens the rest of his season, per a source.

Related Players: Marquise Goodwin, Penny Hart

It seems very unlikely that we will see Lockett again this season unless the Seahawks find their way into a playoff spot. One would assume that Marquise Goodwin will see more time on the field, but there is no 1v1 replacement for Lockett on the team, which could mean a target share increase for DK Metcalf.

RB Ken Walker (foot) has no status and will play.

Walker missed last week's game with what the team called a jammed foot. While it's good news Walker is ready go to, he's struggled a bit since Week 10 (10-17-0, but did catch six balls for 55 yards) and then off the bye week went 14-26-2 against the Raiders before getting hurt in Week 13, where he ran three times for 36 yards before leaving the game. This week, on Thursday night, Walker gets the 49ers defense. Regardless of the matchup, he should be heavily involved and fresh after missing Week 14.

DK Metcalf (hip) is good to play Sunday, Pete says. Same with Geno Smith. Both are good to go.

Related Players: Tyler Lockett, Marquise Goodwin

With both Metcalf and Lockett at full health, the narrow target tree should run through the two of them as normal. Each are WR2s with WR1 ceilings in Week 14.

Seahawks RB Ken Walker will have tests today on what coach Pete Carroll called a "jammed" ankle. The injury —the hope is it's not serious— is different from a sprain because the joint jammed down and not one side or the other. Strange injury. Anyway, tests coming.

Related Players: DeeJay Dallas, Tony Jones

DeeJay Dallas had some good run in Walker's absence but also spent time on the sideline with an ankle injury of his own. At one point, Tony Jones was also in the medical tent after taking a huge hit. The injury bomb has exploded in the Seahawks backfield, and we'll need some more information as the week rolls along, as those three will join Rashaad Penny and Travis Homer as other options who have sustained injuries that have kept them off the field this season.

Since the Chargers game, it’s been mostly a slog for Ken Walker and Seattle’s running game.

Walker has just 203 yards on 68 carries in the four games since the win over the Chargers — 2.9 per attempt.

That includes 43 yards on 24 carries in losses the last two games against the Bucs in Munich and Sunday against the Raiders at Lumen Field, all of which has brought his yards-per-carry down to 4.5.

“He’s trying,” Carroll said Monday. “He’s really going for it. He’s going to find more consistency for us. And there are times when he is looking to bust something when we could maybe hit it up in there. But we have to let him use his instincts because they are phenomenal. He’s going to scorch just like he did on the first touchdown play (a 12-yard TD Sunday), which was a phenomenal play. We just need to be more consistent. Probably more runs will help him. We had 20-something (23 as a team); we would like to get more. We need to balance the run and the pass better than we did over the last two weeks.”

Certainly, the Seahawks have to figure out something, While the run defense may be the bigger issue plaguing them right now, the inability to run on offense and sustain long drives hasn’t helped.

Seattle was 4 of 18 on third downs the past two games with the Bucs and Raiders running a combined 38 more plays than the Seahawks.

And a lot of that was due to an inability to run it well on first down, resulting in an inordinate amount of third-and-longs. Seattle converted on all three of its third downs of 4 yards or shorter Sunday, but failed on all six of 5 yards or longer.

Nine of Walker’s 14 rushes came on first-and-10, and five resulted in a gain of three or less, with a total of 19 (though one of his first-and-10 runs was his 14-yard TD in the third quarter).

And the tasks don’t necessarily get easier as Seattle heads into the final six games of the season.

Four of Seattle’s final six opponents rank seventh or better in the NFL in yards allowed per carry — the 49ers (first, 3.3), Rams, whom Seattle plays twice (fourth, 3.9) and Jets (seventh, 4.1). The Chiefs also rank 14th at 4.3, essentially tied with the Raiders (12th at 4.3).

The only team left on Seattle’s schedule not to rank in the top half of the NFL in fewest yards allowed per rush is Carolina, which is 21st at 4.6. The Panthers, though, two weeks ago held a Ravens team that ranks third in the NFL in yards per carry at 5.3 to just 115 on 30 attempts.

Seattle may catch a break against LA with star tackle Aaron Donald dealing with a high ankle sprain and possibly out for Sunday’s game at SoFi Stadium.

Still, a Rams defense led by former Seahawk Bobby Wagner figures to present a stiff challenge against the run, having just held the Chiefs to no run of longer than 9 yards in 26 attempts from its running backs.

But while Walker may have had little room to run against the Raiders, to what Carroll felt was Walker’s immense credit, Walker shouldered his share of the blame.

“I just feel like we haven’t been executing well,” Walker said. “The running backs, myself included, we just haven’t executed well in the run game.”

And to Carroll, that comment spoke volumes.

“He’s really team oriented; he holds himself accountable,” Carroll said. “There’s an illustration of that. He’s not going to try to duck and dodge anything. He is going to take it right on, straight up. It’s going to accelerate the process. He’s not going to be ducking and dodging the issues. He’s going to be going right at it, and give you everything that he’s got, and he won’t back away.”

Things did seem pretty easy for Walker after taking over for Rashaad Penny. HC Pete Carroll put the blame mostly on the O-line. Walker had touchdown runs of 14 and 12 yards — and a combined zero yards on his other 12 attempts this past week, the story pointed out. However, the story said Carroll did point to Walker, saying Carroll indicated at times Walker maybe has to be content with taking a shorter — but surer — gain instead of aiming to break a big one. Unfortunately things don't get easier. The only team left on Seattle’s schedule not to rank in the top half of the NFL in fewest yards allowed per rush is Carolina, which is 21st at 4.6. The Panthers, though, two weeks ago held a Ravens team that ranks third in the NFL in yards per carry at 5.3 to just 115 on 30 attempts, the story said.

Great news from Pete Carroll, who tells us DK Metcalf will not need surgery. He has a patellar tendon issue.

Related Players: Tyler Lockett, Marquise Goodwin, D'Wayne Eskridge

There's still no timeline, though other reports say that Carroll is pessimistic about Metcalf returning to practice this week, so it may be a week-to-week issue. D'Wayne Eskridge saw an uptick in snaps after Metcalf's departure but didn't receive a target in Week 7.