After being listed as doubtful to play on Wednesday's final injury report and all but ruled out by coach Pete Carroll, the Seattle Seahawks will be without running back Ken Walker III against the San Francisco 49ers due to a strained oblique.
Walker, who exited last weekend's loss to the Rams in the first quarter and didn't return, sat out all three practices in a short week. While he may not be a candidate for injured reserve, when asked if he could return next week, Carroll didn't have a timeline for the star runner to potentially be back in the lineup for the Seahawks.
“We’re hoping that’s the case, but we don’t know that until we get to the Wednesday day. I have no idea what day that would be, but whenever that day shows up, we’ll know more then," Carroll said.
With Walker set to miss his first game of the season, Seattle will turn to second-round pick Zach Charbonnet for his first career start in the backfield. Behind him, fellow rookie Kenny McIntosh will finally make his NFL debut after missing the first eight games with a sprained knee and sitting out the past two games as a healthy scratch, while veteran DeeJay Dallas will also be able to help carry the load.
In the good news department, as expected, the Seahawks will have starting quarterback Geno Smith in uniform despite being listed as questionable with a sore right elbow. He didn't participate in pre-game throwing to receivers, but that was anticipated with Carroll telling reporters the team would be "judicious" with reps due to him being less than 100 percent.
To provide extra insurance behind Smith and backup Drew Lock, Seattle elevated veteran Brett Rypien from the practice squad in a rare instance where the team has three quarterbacks active on game day.
Along with Smith being ready to start, the Seahawks will also have receivers DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett available after both players were limited during the abbreviated practice week. Safety Jamal Adams will return to action as well after missing last week's game due to a knee injury. None of the three players received designations on the final injury report on Wednesday.
Capping off Seattle's inactives, receiver Dareke Young will sit out a second straight week with an abdominal injury. The second-year wideout aggravated the injury in his first game action of the year against Washington after missing the first nine weeks recovering from hernia surgery.
Along the offensive line, with Jason Peters and Stone Forsythe both expected to rotate at right tackle, undrafted rookies McClendon Curtis and Raiqwon O'Neal once again will not dress as healthy scratches. The Seahawks will also switch things up on the defensive line, activating Myles Adams for the first time in three weeks over rookie Cameron Young and surprisingly deactivating edge rusher Frank Clark.
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