Seahawks Place WR Tory Horton on Injured Reserve, Elevate 2 From Practice Squad to Face Titans
Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Tory Horton (15) between plays- against the Washington Commanders during the first quarter at Northwest Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
Already ruled out for Sunday’s road contest against the Tennessee Titans, the Seattle Seahawks won’t have rookie playmaker Tory Horton back in the lineup for at least four more weeks.
Continuing to deal with a lingering shin injury suffered in a Week 9 road win against the Commanders, the Seahawks placed Horton on injured reserve on Saturday, ensuring that he will miss at least the next four games. Per NFL rules, the earliest he would be available to return to the 53-man roster would be Week 16, when Seattle is scheduled for a home rematch on Thursday Night Football against the NFC West-leading Los Angeles Rams.
After acquiring receiver Rashid Shaheed from the Saints at the trade deadline, the Seahawks should be able to weather the storm a bit better without Horton available, but that doesn’t mean his presence won’t be missed. Before the shin injury cropped up during the practice week following the win in Landover, he had been the most efficient source of offense on the team through the first nine games, turning 13 receptions into 161 yards and five touchdowns, which remains tied with superstar Jaxon Smith-Njigba for the most on the roster.
In addition, Horton provided a sparkplug for Seattle’s special teams, setting a new team record with a 95-yard punt return for a touchdown in a blowout win versus New Orleans in Week 3.
Without the speedy Horton in pads for the foreseeable future, the Seahawks will have to turn to veterans Cody White and Jake Bobo - who would be playing for the first time in four games due to his own calf injury - to help fill the void as secondary targets behind Smith-Njigba, Shaheed, and Cooper Kupp. Since offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak runs extensive two-back and multi-tight end personnel groupings, however, as long as other injuries don’t happen, the aforementioned trio should receive the bulk of the playing time until the rookie can hopefully return for the closing stretch run.
While the Seahawks did not sign a player off the practice squad to take Horton’s spot on the 53-man roster on Saturday, the team did elevate linebackers Patrick O’Connell and Jamie Sheriff for Sunday, providing much needed depth in the middle of the defense. Veteran starter Ernest Jones (knee) received a questionable designation on Friday’s final injury report and his status remains up in the air on whether or not he will play against his former team, while second-year linebacker Tyrice Knight (concussion) won’t be available.
In the event Jones and Knight both sit out against the Titans, the Seahawks only have one other linebacker - Chazz Surratt - on the active roster. It’s possible O’Connell would be the starter next to Drake Thomas, who would slide into the MIKE role filling in for Jones with the green dot on his helmet as defensive on-field play caller. The former Montana standout has played eight career defensive snaps, which all happened earlier this season.
As for Sheriff, the converted EDGE rusher-turned-inside linebacker likely will be available as a special teams contributor and if the Seahawks do use him on Sunday, it would likely be as a depth piece at outside linebacker unless further injuries forced him into action at his new position. The second-year defender, who shined as an undrafted rookie two years ago in the preseason, has played 17 career regular season snaps, all coming with the Panthers early in the 2024 season before he was waived and brought back to Seattle.
