Seahawks Avoid Brutal Grey Zabel Knee News After MRI Results

Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald delivered the news the franchise was desperate to hear: rookie starting guard Grey Zabel’s knee MRI did not reveal a significant injury, and the first-round pick is considered day to day after the scare against the Los Angeles Rams.

Speaking to reporters, Macdonald said the team “avoided a significant injury,” calling that outcome “really positive” and noting that the medical staff’s early read on Zabel’s knee puts him in the day-to-day category rather than weeks or months.

The update marks a dramatic turn from the fear inside the Seahawks locker room on Sunday, when Zabel went down in the fourth quarter of Seattle’s 21-19 loss at SoFi Stadium. The standout rookie left guard had his leg rolled up on during Kenneth Walker III’s touchdown run, needed help to the sideline and did not return, with Christian Haynes finishing the game in his place.

Initially, Macdonald described the on-field ligament tests as “optimistic” but made it clear the team wouldn’t know the true severity until imaging was completed on Monday. Now, with the MRI results in, the worst-case scenarios — including a season-ending ligament tear — are off the table.

Seahawks Get Huge Grey Zabel Injury Relief After MRI on Knee

Macdonald explained that Monday’s scan confirmed the positive signs team doctors saw in the immediate aftermath of the game, reinforcing that there was no major structural damage to Zabel’s knee.

“We avoided a significant injury, which is really positive,” Macdonald said, adding that the words he heard from the medical staff were “day-to-day” — coach-speak for a player who may miss practice time, and possibly a game, but is expected back in the near future rather than heading to injured reserve.

That counts as enormous relief for a Seattle offensive line that has already been juggling pieces. Center Jalen Sundell is on injured reserve with his own knee issue, forcing the Seahawks to shuffle the interior just as the schedule tightens and the playoff race intensifies.

Zabel’s injury looked ominous in real time, and the 23-year-old lineman remained on the turf for several moments while trainers evaluated him. He was helped to the sideline, examined in the blue medical tent and then taken to the locker room, where the Seahawks initiated the standard battery of tests that led to Monday’s MRI.

Instead of potentially losing their best interior lineman for the season, Seattle now expects to manage Zabel’s workload and see how he responds over the course of the week.

What Grey Zabel’s Day-to-Day Status Means for the Seahawks

While the MRI news is as good as the Seahawks could have hoped for, Macdonald’s “day-to-day” label still introduces some short-term uncertainty heading into Week 12 at the Tennessee Titans.

At minimum, Zabel seems likely to be limited in early-week practices as the staff monitors swelling, pain levels and functional strength. If he can ramp up by Friday, the Seahawks will have a decision to make on whether to roll with their first-round pick on the road or give him a week to heal against a 1-9 Titans team that has struggled offensively.

If Zabel can’t go, Haynes is the next man up at left guard. The 2024 third-round pick just returned from injured reserve because of a pectoral injury and was pressed into action immediately after Zabel went down versus Los Angeles.

“For Christian not having been active and seeing his first football action I thought he did a good job,” Macdonald said.  

Even with the short-term questions, the bigger picture is clear: the Seahawks dodged a catastrophic blow to one of the most important pieces of their rebuild. Zabel, taken 18th overall in the 2025 NFL draft, has quickly emerged as a cornerstone on the interior after a decorated career at North Dakota State and a strong preseason that had analysts touting him as one of the league’s top emerging guards.

Seattle invested that first-round pick in Zabel precisely to stabilize an offensive line that had slipped in recent seasons. Losing him for months would have forced the Seahawks to overhaul their blocking schemes, lean heavily on depth and likely expose quarterback Sam Darnold to even more pressure than he saw in Sunday’s loss, when he threw four interceptions.

Instead, Macdonald and offensive line coach John Benton can approach this as a short-term management problem rather than a structural crisis.

Stats, Schedule & Context for Seattle After Rams Loss

The injury update dropped less than 24 hours after a gut-punch defeat in Los Angeles, where Jason Myers pushed a 61-yard field goal wide in the final seconds and the Seahawks slipped to 7-3 and second place in the NFC West behind the Rams.

Despite the loss — and Darnold’s turnover issues — Seattle remains firmly in the NFC playoff mix, currently occupying one of the conference’s wild-card spots.

Now, with Zabel’s MRI confirming that his knee is structurally sound, the Seahawks can exhale and shift their focus to cleaning up the giveaways and stacking wins down the stretch.

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