RENTON — Good luck figuring out who will be playing left tackle for either the Seahawks or 49ers on Saturday night.
It seems to be a more pressing issue for the Seahawks, who have concerns about starter Charles Cross and backup Josh Jones going into the matchup against San Francisco with the NFC West and No. 1 seed in the NFC on the line.
Cross has missed the past two games with a hamstring injury suffered on the game-winning field goal late in the fourth quarter of the win over Indianapolis on Dec. 14. Jones stepped in as the starter the past two weeks in the wins over the Rams and Carolina and played well in both victories.
But Jones popped up on the injury report on Tuesday with ankle and knee issues after getting banged up in the game against the Panthers.
Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald was elusive when it came to characterizing the situation at the position on Wednesday. He indicated that if available both could potentially play against the 49ers, although ‘if’ remains the key word.
“We have some tackles that can play. Josh can play, he’s going to play. If Charles gets better and can play, he’ll play. If not we’ve got some other guys who can play,” Macdonald said.
While the head coach provided a glimpse of optimism, he followed later by saying that Cross was not expected to practice and Jones’ practice status was uncertain.
“We’ll see how Josh practices today. He’s going through walk-through right now. We’ll see how it goes,” Macdonald said.
The 49ers are facing similar questions about their left tackle after three-time first-team All-Pro Trent Williams left their win over Chicago on Sunday in the first quarter with a hamstring injury.
49ers GM John Lynch said on his radio show on Wednesday that the 37-year-old is “making every effort,” to try and play against the Seahawks. The 49ers turned to Austen Pleasants for the rest of the game.
There also remains uncertainty for the Seahawks around kick returner/wide receiver Rashid Shaheed after suffering a concussion against the Panthers. Shaheed was expected to practice Wednesday, but Macdonald was uncertain in what capacity he would practice.
Four previous times this season, the Seahawks had a player in concussion protocol during the week and all four times that player did not end up playing.
Safety Coby Bryant (knee) was listed as a limited participant in Tuesday’s practice estimations, but Macdonald said he would not practice. It’s clear the condensed week with the Saturday game and the week of preparations being accelerated is making it a challenge for some players to get healthy in time.
“Again, we’ll see. I know those guys are working like crazy, but we’re going into football Friday. Probably have to do something before the game goes,” Macdonald said.