Rashid Shaheed, Injured Seahawks Trending in Right Direction For Massive 49ers Rematch

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Rashid Shaheed (22) catches a pass against Carolina Panthers cornerback Mike Jackson (2) during the first quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

RENTON, Wash. - While Mike Macdonald wasn’t about to commit to any of the Seattle Seahawks’ injured players being ready to play on Saturday in the NFC West title game against the San Francisco 49ers, positive signs continue to emerge from the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.

Speaking with reporters in his weekly Wednesday press conference prior to practice, Macdonald offered up encouraging updates on a variety of injured players, including receiver Rashid Shaheed, who exited Sunday’s 27-10 win in Carolina with a concussion late in the first quarter. In the midst of concussion protocol, after not providing any tangible information on the player’s status on Monday, Seattle’s coach indicated the speedy wideout should participate in practice on Wednesday to a limited extent and would then be assessed afterward to see if he’s ready for the next step.

Macdonald also made it clear Seattle does not have a team policy preventing a concussed player from returning one week after suffering a head injury, though that has not happened so far this season, as every player who has gone through concussion protocol has sat out at least one game. His situation will be determined on an individual basis depending on how he proceeds through the protocol.

“To my knowledge, he’s practicing today. In what capacity, I can’t tell you, but he should be out there,” Macdonald said.

With much at stake, including the No. 1 seed and a first round bye in the playoffs, having Shaheed available six days after suffering his concussion would be a major boon for the Seahawks on offense as well as special teams. Since coming to town in a trade deadline deal with the Saints, he has caught 14 passes for 186 yards, rushed seven times for 64 yards, and returned both a kickoff and a punt for a touchdown, providing the versatile playmaking that the team believed he would as a complementary weapon next to Jaxon Smith-Njigba and upgrade in the return game.

If Shaheed isn’t able to play against San Francisco, Seattle will have to rely more on multi-tight end personnel groupings with Dareke Young and Jake Bobo set to pick up the slack as the third receiver behind Smith-Njigba and veteran Cooper Kupp. As for special teams, running back Cam Akers could be a candidate to elevate from the practice squad again and step in as a kick returner next to Young, as he returned two kicks for 54 yards in Charlotte on Sunday.

Away from Shaheed, Macdonald downplayed concerns at the left tackle position after both Charles Cross and Josh Jones were listed as non-participants in an estimated injury report on Tuesday. Per the coach, even with him not expected to practice on Wednesday, there’s a “non-zero chance” Cross could be back in action after sitting out the previous two games with a hamstring strain, while Jones came out of Sunday’s game a bit dinged up and the coach expressed guarded confidence he would be ready to go if called upon to start a third straight game protecting Sam Darnold’s blind side.

In other words, regardless of whether Cross makes it back this week or not, fans should not be fretting about the possibility of a third-string left tackle being thrust into action to start in the biggest game of the season in Santa Clara.

Defensively, safety Coby Bryant’s status remains up in the air after he missed Sunday’s win in Carolina with a knee injury and was listed as a limited participant for Tuesday’s estimated practice report. Though his condition has improved and he may be able to suit up by Saturday after doing a walkthrough earlier in the day, Macdonald confirmed he wouldn’t practice on Wednesday, truly making him questionable for the weekend.

In the event Bryant can’t turn the corner quickly enough to play, Ty Okada will earn his second straight start next to Julian Love in the secondary. The third-year safety has started 11 games thus far this year and played at a high level with 62 tackles and 1.5 sacks, which may make it less urgent to rush Bryant back into action if he’s not close to 100% healthy.

Due to the nature of a short week playing on Saturday instead of Sunday, decisions on Cross, Bryant, and others will have to be made a bit sooner than normal with Thursday serving as a typical Friday practice for the Seahawks. If Macdonald’s comments are any indication, there at least seems to be some optimism that the team could be closer to full strength by the time Saturday rolls around, but he did hint that those players would need to take a step up workload wise by Thursday to have a chance.

“We’ll see. I know those guys are working like crazy, but we’re going into Football Friday, probably will have to do something before the game goes.”