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# Seahawks Set to Bolster Top-3 Defense For Final Stretch Run
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/seattle-seahawks-bolster-top-3-defense-julian-love-jarran-reed-return/
- Published: 2025-12-05T20:08:17.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T06:16:57.000Z
- Author: Corbin Smith
- Tags: Analysis, News, Seahawks, Jarran Reed, Julian Love, Ty Okada, Dareke Young

\[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="4206"\]

![  Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Jarran Reed (90) sacks Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) during the second quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images  ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/usatsi_27082740-format-original-1.jpg)

Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Jarran Reed (90) sacks Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) during the second quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images \[/caption\]

RENTON, Wash. - Coming off their best performance of the season shutting down the Minnesota Vikings in a 26-0 blowout, “the rich get richer” will soon apply to the Seattle Seahawks with five games left to play.

Designated to return to practice earlier this week and opening their respective 21-day window to be activated to the Seahawks’ 53-man roster, Pro Bowl safety Julian Love and defensive tackle Jarran Reed will both be back in action when the team hits the road to face the Falcons in Atlanta. Love has been limited in practice thus far on Wednesday and Thursday as he works back from a hamstring strain and Reed has been a full participant returning from a second surgery to repair a fractured wrist/hand.

In addition, receiver and core special teamer Dareke Young also returned to practice, but he was ruled out on Friday and will need at least another week before he’s added back to the roster.

“J-Reed should be good to go, which is exciting. And Julian is planning on playing and we’ll play it accordingly,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said after Friday’s practice. “We have a plan and we’ll see how the game goes, but excited to have those guys back.”

Dogged by injury for most of the season, Love has only played in three of Seattle’s first 12 games, last suiting up for a Thursday night road win over Arizona in late September. The team expected him to be ready to return coming out of a Week 8 bye, but he suffered a setback while training during the week off, ultimately leading to the team taking a proactive approach by placing him on injured reserve to ensure his hamstring would fully heal in time for the final month of the season.

Fortunately, the Seahawks have been able to weather the storm without Love for much of the season thanks to the emergence of Ty Okada, who has played like a starter in place of the Pro Bowler. The third-year safety out of Montana State has been a pleasant surprise for Macdonald’s defense, contributing 49 tackles, 1.5 sacks, an interception, and a fumble recovery, helping the team continue to dominate on defense even without one of their best players while allowing just 18.1 points per game.

Speaking with reporters on Thursday after being announced as Seattle’s nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, Love didn’t commit to whether or not he expected to be back on Sunday in Atlanta, simply reiterating Macdonald’s words from earlier in the week echoing that a plan was in place for him to return. But after a “killer” setback during the bye, he’s eager to be able to get back on the field and help his team try to win the NFC West and potentially earn the top seed in the conference.

“There’s a plan. I don't know if I can say that, but there's a plan in place to get for me to get ramped up,” Love said.

For as well as Okada has played, reinserting a fully healthy Love back into the lineup would be a major boost for the Seahawks. The seventh-year safety has been a key cog in Macdonald’s defense, including intercepting three passes and forcing two fumbles last season. Before suffering his hamstring injury, he had 18 tackles, two pass breakups, and a sack in three games, opening the season playing at the accustomed level of a top-five defender at his position.

But as has been the case since Seattle opted to place him on injured reserve, Macdonald and the medical staff wanted to make sure Love made it all the way back and the team has properly worked him back into game shape before throwing him back into the fire, hoping to avoid another reinjury and ensuring he’s back for good this time. Now, he’ll likely be on a pitch count with Okada still seeing some action in Atlanta.

“I know he's really excited and we'll go from there on how we want to go into the weekend with how he's going to go,” Macdonald explained on Wednesday. “Let's say everything went perfectly to plan anytime you're coming off a stretch where you're not playing, you’ve got to have some sort of ramp back in, so that’s how we’re operating.”

Much like the secondary, the Seahawks have been able to withstand Reed’s extended absence in the trenches over the past month with quality play from the likes of Brandon Pili, Quinton Bohanna, and Mike Morris, but they will certainly welcome his presence back alongside starters Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy II with open arms.

Before re-fracturing his wrist/hand in a road win over Washington in Week 9, Reed posted solid numbers as a pass rusher and run defender for Seattle, tallying 14 pressures, 1.5 sacks, six quarterback hits, and six run stops, per Pro Football Focus. More than capable of going on a run getting sacks in bunches himself, as evidenced by 11.5 of them in the past two seasons, adding him back to the fold will only further reinforce one of the NFL’s best interior defensive lines.

Like Love, away from his on-field production, Reed also brings a vital leadership voice back into the mix as well. Now in his 10th season in the league, the former second-round pick out of Alabama has transformed into a fantastic mentor for young players and a galvanizing voice for the defensive line as a whole between the lines.

Looking at the last five games, while Atlanta has been reeling as of late and plunged towards the bottom of the NFC standings with a 4-8 record, Macdonald won’t be taking any opponent lightly with no margin for error in the best division in the NFL. While upcoming matchups against far superior Indianapolis and Los Angeles Rams squads loom in Week 15 and Week 16 and having all hands on deck for those games would be ideal, Reed and Love both clearly showed enough on the practice field this week to give the staff confidence they were ready to work back into action, shaking some rust off for those two big games coming up in a five-day span.

With Seattle still playing elite defense minus several key players, Macdonald should have his defensive unit back at full strength for the first time in months at the perfect time, getting the band back together for a tight NFC West race that most certainly will be a sprint to the finish.