Seahawks Elevate Matt Gotel, Austin Faoliu For Defensive Line Depth vs. Cardinals

Potentially spelling bad news for veteran Jarran Reed's status, the Seattle Seahawks elevated defensive tackles Austin Faoliu and Matt Gotel from the practice squad to play in Sunday's season finale versus the Arizona Cardinals.

Missing practice all week with a knee injury, Reed received a questionable designation on Seattle's final injury report on Friday. Coach Pete Carroll called him a game-time decision due to a "deep bruise" in his knee, saying he hadn't improved enough to practice on Friday.

In addition to Reed being banged up, the Seahawks also won't have veteran Mario Edwards for a second straight week with his own knee injury, creating significant depth concerns in the trenches defensively against an outstanding Cardinals run game.

Signing with Seattle in May after starring in the XFL, the 6-3, 305-pound Faoliu missed all of training camp and the preseason on the PUP list following offseason knee surgery. The former Oregon standout made his team debut in last week's 30-23 loss to Pittsburgh, registering one tackle on seven defensive snaps.

Faoliu first entered the league as an undrafted signee for the Cowboys, appearing in one game as a rookie in 2021 and making a pair of tackles.

Gotel, a Tacoma native who played collegiately at West Florida, originally signed with the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent in May 2022. He didn't make the team out of camp, but re-signed in August and recently rejoined the practice squad in late December.

If Gotel suits up, the 341-pound defender will make his NFL regular season debut, rotating into action at the nose tackle spot for Seattle.