The Seattle Seahawks flew home with a 30â24 win over the Tennessee Titans â and a suddenly scary injury list. On a day when Seattle was already paper-thin at linebacker and safety, Ty Okada (oblique), Chazz Surratt (ankle) and George Holani (hamstring) were all ruled out of the game, forcing head coach Mike Macdonald to lean even harder on his ânext man upâ mantra.
Ty Okada, Chazz Surratt & George Holani All Ruled Out vs Titans
Macdonald confirmed after the game that starting safety Ty Okada left with an oblique injury and never returned. He said it seemed to happen on a fourth-down sequence or the drive right before it, and admitted he almost âpunched him in the obliqueâ in the locker room postgame before thinking better of it, a joking admission that the excitement of a win nearly led to a blow to Okadaâs injured area.
Okada had been starting at free safety in place of Julian Love, who remains on injured reserve with a hamstring issue. Once Okada went down, Seattle was suddenly scrambling. DâAnthony Bell and rookie Nick Emmanwori had to step in alongside Coby Bryant to hold the secondary together against Titans rookie quarterback Cam Ward.
It got worse at linebacker and special teams. Depth linebacker Chazz Surratt left with an ankle injury and was quickly ruled out, after going down on a kickoff and needing help to get off the field.
Then running back George Holani suffered a hamstring injury and was also ruled out for the rest of the game. Holani hadnât logged a carry yet, but heâs been a core special teamer and RB3 behind Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet.
âChaz has an ankle. George has a hamstring,â Macdonald said, linking both injuries directly to how thin the Seahawks were on coverage units by the fourth quarter.
Already-Thin Seahawks Defense & Special Teams Take Another Hit
The timing couldnât be worse. Seattle came into Week 12 already without starting linebackers Ernest Jones IV and Tyrice Knight, which forced the Seahawks to promote Patrick OâConnell from the practice squad and hand him real snaps next to Drake Thomas.
Macdonald said it got âa little hairyâ on the back end once Okada exited, admitting the Seahawks were close to running out of true safeties. Still, he praised assistant Jeff Howard and Bell for being ready enough that they didnât have to throw out the defensive game plan midstream.
Special teams didnât survive the attrition. Titans returner Chimere Dike burned Seattle for a 90-yard punt return touchdown, and Macdonald didnât sugarcoat it.
âI saw something that happened, but weâve got to play better,â he said. âThe guy likes to go around the edge and we had no edge. Thatâs the gunnersâ responsibility and itâs our netâs responsibility.â
Tie that back to losing Surratt and Holani, and the âbrutal injury pileupâ description doesnât feel like much of an exaggeration.
Julian Love Return Looms Even Larger
The one sliver of good news: help might be on the way. Julian Love is eligible to return from IR soon after missing the mandatory four games with his own hamstring problem. Macdonald reiterated that the team put him on IR to âensure when he comes back that heâs ready to goâ and can ârip it the way that he playsâ without them second-guessing the leg. That was before Okada went down.
Love was a Pro Bowler last season and has been the centerpiece of Seattleâs revamped secondary. Now his timeline suddenly feels even more urgent, with Okadaâs oblique joining a growing list of dings and strains in the back end.
The Seahawks improved to 8-3 with the win, but they let a 1-10 Titans team hang around until the final minutes, and they paid a steep price in bodies to get out of Nashville with a victory. If Love isnât ready soon and Okadaâs oblique lingers, Seattleâs depth at safety and on special teams could go from âbrutalâ to âbreakingâ in a hurry.
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