Seahawks Hoping For All Hands on Deck vs. Texans on Monday Night Football
RENTON, Wash. - While signs seem to be pointing towards a more optimistic direction for cornerback Devon Witherspoon and safety Julian Love on the injury report, it remains uncertain whether one or both will be available for the Seattle Seahawks against the Houston Texans on Monday Night Football.
Now approaching 48 hours until kickoff, Seattle listed Witherspoon and Love as questionable for the Week 7 prime time contest, with the former being a full participant in Friday’s practice and the latter being limited for a second straight day. Coach Mike Macdonald remained non-committal on whether either would suit up against Houston after the session wrapped up at the VMAC, simply saying the team hopes they will be able to go but will have reserves ready to go again if necessary.
“It'd be great. It'd be awesome to have those guys back. You know the answer, Julian's a great player, Spoon's a great player, but we’ve got great players that are playing too. If they don't play, we'll count on those guys too,” Macdonald said.
Bruising his knee in the season opener on September 7 against the 49ers, Witherspoon has missed four of the Seahawks’ first six games, re-aggravating the injury when he returned for a Thursday night victory over the Cardinals in Arizona and sitting out the past two weeks. In similar fashion, Love tweaked his hamstring in that same game after missing Week 3 against the Saints and has been inactive in a loss to the Buccaneers and win against the Jaguars.
Seattle has, for the most part, been able to weather the storm with Witherspoon and Love absent for multiple games. Though Tampa Bay lit up a banged-up defense for 38 points, the team has gone 3-1 in games without Witherspoon thanks to steady play from veteran cornerback Derion Kendrick, while rookie Nick Emmanwori, Ty Okada, and D’Anthony Bell have pitched in to offset Love being out in the secondary.
Regardless of whether Witherspoon or Love plays on Monday night, the Seahawks will be healthier in the secondary overall with cornerback Tariq Woolen back in action versus the Texans after sitting out last weekend with a concussion. Even with rumors about his future with the team swirling heading towards the November 4 trade deadline, Macdonald downplayed the possibility of the defender being moved and praised him for his work during the practice week.
“I'll tell you what, Riq's had a great week of practice,” Macdonald said. “I told him yesterday that I'm really excited to see him play. So, I can't wait to see him go out there and do his thing.”
In additional injury news, veteran swing tackle Josh Jones received a questionable designation after missing each of the past three games with an ankle sprain, while outside linebacker Derick Hall will sit out a second straight game with an oblique injury. Macdonald indicated the latter has a great chance to be back after the Seahawks Week 8 bye.
