Seahawks Must Balance Long Game With Immediate Need as Zach Charbonnet Nears Return

After rushing for just 44 yards in a road loss to the Washington Commanders last weekend, much-needed help may be on the way in the near future for the Seattle Seahawks as the team weighs when to designate Zach Charbonnet to return to practice.

On Monday, Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald remained non-committal on whether or not Charbonnet would practice this week, which would open his 21-day window to be activated to the 53-man roster. The fourth-year back has made quite the rapid recovery from a torn ACL suffered in a Divisional Round win over the 49ers in January and reconstructive knee surgery in late February.

“We’re still working through that process,” Macdonald said. “I’m sure we’ll have an answer by sometime tomorrow, whether or not he’ll start practicing this week. It’s not out of the question yet, we just haven’t had an update.”

During Seattle’s off day on Tuesday, the team didn’t announce anything on the Charbonnet front, leaving his status in question. But that doesn’t mean a decision wasn’t made behind the scenes, and before Wednesday’s practice, Macdonald again indicated a decision had not been made and that the veteran back could potentially practice on Thursday.

Considering how much Seattle has struggled running the football in two of the first three games, particularly in short yardage and goal line situations, bringing back Charbonnet as soon as possible would be the perfect ingredient to throw into the pot and spice up a rushing attack that currently doesn’t have enough bite to it. But the team also can’t afford to rush him back too quickly either, making the decision on when to get him back on the practice field a multi-layered one.