RENTON, Wash. – Tre Brown appears in line to get another start at right cornerback Sunday for the Seahawks against Carolina with Riq Woolen dealing with a chest injury that held him out of practice Wednesday.
“He’s pretty sore,” coach Pete Carroll said, adding it would “take a pretty big recovery” for Woolen to be able to play Sunday. Woolen was injured on the second play of the second quarter of the 37-31 overtime win over the Lions.
Carroll, though, said “no” when asked if the injury might require a stint on the Injured Reserve list, indicating the team doesn’t see it as an overly significant injury.
Brown, who had started at left cornerback in the opening loss to the Rams only to see rookie Devon Witherspoon take over that spot against the Lions, stepped in and played the rest of the way in place of Woolen and had one of the key plays of the game with an interception return for a touchdown that put Seattle ahead 31-21 midway through the fourth quarter.
“He’s competed his tail off to be there all the time for us,” said Carroll of Brown, a 2021 fourth-round pick out of Oklahoma who was hampered much of last year while dealing with a knee injury.
As Carroll noted Wednesday, Brown had earned a starting spot in 2021 before hurting his knee.
“This game in particular, he just lit it up and did some great stuff,” Carroll said.
Seattle also added to its cornerback depth by signing Artie Burns off the practice squad to the 53. Burns has been playing regularly in the nickel and dime packages in the first two games and if needed can play on the outside.
Coby Bryant, who has been the primary nickel corner, sat out practice with a toe injury, which likely also played into signing Burns.
Seattle also still has Michael Jackson, who can back up at either outside spot.
Metcalf says he’s fine
Receiver DK Metcalf left Sunday’s game briefly in the first half after taking a hard shot to the ribs.
Metcalf said he was injured on a third-down play on the first series of the game at the goal line.
But he returned and ended up playing 60 of 72 offensive snaps and Carroll indicated Metcalf will play Sunday, though he did not practice on Wednesday – one of nine players overall who sat out, and one of eight who could be considered as a starter.
“I’m feeling great,” Metcalf said as he led off his regular weekly meeting with the media before practice.
Asked how close he is to 100%, Metcalf said, “I’m always 100%.”
Metcalf laughed as he said that, and then was asked if laughing hurts his ribs.
“Nah man, I love laughing,” he said.
Carroll had indicated Metcalf might not practice much this week, saying, “He’s going to make it through the week. He’s going to be all right. We will take care of him. But he’s going to be all right.”
Dissly deals with sore shoulder as team adds TE depthSeattle’s signing of tight end Brady Russell off the Eagles’ practice squad Tuesday night made more sense once Carroll revealed that Will Dissly is dealing with a sore shoulder and would not practice Wednesday.
“He’s a little banged up,” Carroll said. “He got banged. He’s had a shoulder that’s been bothering him.”
Carroll said tight end Noah Fant also “took a shot” in the game but was expected to practice Wednesday. Fant was listed as a full participant.
Russell, listed at 6-3, 250 pounds, signed with the Eagles last spring as an undrafted free agent out of Colorado, where he caught 67 passes for 799 yards and three touchdowns in his career.
Seattle releases Smith, puts Morris on IR
To make room for Burns and Russell, Seattle released second-year linebacker Tyreke Smith and put rookie defensive lineman Mike Morris on the injured reserve, with Carroll revealing he will miss the rest of the season due to a shoulder surgery.
Smith missed all of last season with a hip injury.
Smith saw the first action of his career in Sunday’s win at Detroit, making one tackle, getting nine snaps on defense and five on special teams.
Carroll said the move to release Smith was because the team had “some roster deals we had to work out. … He’s done a nice job so far. This was just a roster move that we had to make.”
Morris, a fifth-round pick out of Michigan last spring, played in the opener against the Rams before being held out last week as the team sought options on what to do about what has been a chronic issue for Morris.
Carroll said Morris will have surgery in a week or two.
“It’s just aggravated to the point that the best thing to do is to get him well,” Carroll said. “… Mike had done such a good job with us, had made such a good impression. We had a whole role mapped out for him to fit in and all that. We just have to put it on hold.”
Cross improves; Peters might still be a week away
Carroll said left tackle Charles Cross continued to recover from a big toe injury that held him out against the Lions. Cross did not practice Wednesday, and Carroll was vague on If he has a chance to play this week.
“It’s a day-to-day observation to see how he is,” Carroll said.
Twenty-year vet Jason Peters signed to the practice squad last week as the Seahawks sought depth at tackle with right tackle Abraham Lucas also going on IR – Lucas has to miss at least three more games.
Carroll said he’d need to wait to see if Peters can play this week.
“I don’t know if it’s realistic or not (that he could play this week),” Carroll said. “We’re taking that one week at a time. … Maybe by the end of the week he could be available. Next week if he makes it through then we could really talk about.”
That seems to indicate another week as starters for Stone Forsythe at left tackle and Jake Curhan at right.
Each went the entire way in the win over the Lions.
As for Lucas, Carroll said his knee is improving after having an unspecified procedure last week and is able to get around fine, but said it remains unclear when he could return.
“I don’t have any timeline on that for you but good results so far,” Carroll said.