Seahawks Elevate Pair of Secondary Reinforcements From Practice Squad to Face Jaguars
Facing the prospects of being down three starters in their secondary against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, the Seattle Seahawks made expected moves promoting cornerback Shaquill Griffin and safety Jerrick Reed II from the practice squad.
One day after listing cornerback Riq Woolen, who exited last week’s loss to the Buccaneers with a concussion, as doubtful to play in Jacksonville, the Seahawks downgraded the former Pro Bowler on Saturday with him not progressing through the league-mandated protocols. The announcement wasn’t a surprise following less-than-optimistic comments from coach Mike Macdonald after Friday’s final practice at the VMAC.
“Just the protocol, there's all sorts of things you’ve got to hit, and he hasn't quite hit all the things,” Macdonald said. “It's different for each guy, from what I understand, it's like you accelerate through, ‘Okay, bang, I'm good, oh, now I’ve got to do this, I’ve got to do that, didn't get cleared here, didn't get cleared there, okay, now I got cleared.’ It's a tricky process. Sounds like I don't know what I'm talking about, which frankly, I don't.”
With Woolen already declared out, the Seahawks also placed doubtful designations on cornerback Devon Witherspoon (knee) and safety Julian Love (hamstring) after neither player practiced this week. While it isn’t out of the question one of them could try to work out pre-game and play against the Jaguars, the decision to promote both Griffin and Reed suggests both will be in street clothes again, missing their fourth and third games due to injury this season respectively.
Brought back for a reunion in July after originally being drafted by Seattle in the third round in 2017, Griffin missed most of training camp due to personal reasons and the team released him at the end of the preseason, opting to retain him on the practice squad. The 2019 Pro Bowl selection suited up once earlier this season as a game day elevation in a road win against the Steelers, playing three defensive snaps and allowing one catch on one target for seven yards.
Now in his third season, Reed, a 2023 sixth-round pick out of New Mexico, will play in his third regular season game in 2025. He logged six defensive snaps in a blowout win versus the Saints in Week 3 before playing 13 special teams snaps against the Buccaneers last weekend and will provide versatile depth behind expected starters Coby Bryant, Ty Okada, and rookie Nick Emmanwori. Veteran D’Anthony Bell will also be available after pitching in a tackle for loss and a partial sack in the previous two games for the Seahawks.
