RENTON — Kenneth Walker isn’t going to be out a long time.
Whether he plays this weekend remains to be seen.
Coach Mike Macdonald said Wednesday that Seattle’s lead running back and touchdown scorer is “day to day” for the first-place Seahawks’ game Sunday night against the Green Bay Packers at Lumen Field (5:20 p.m., KING-5 television).
Walker had tests Monday on his injured calf, to give Seattle’s training and medical staff more clarity on his pain that caused him to miss the team’s win last weekend at Arizona.
“It got more, kind of, complicated as the week went on. That’s why we had to do some more tests and stuff. But right now, there’s positive signs.
“So, we’ll just say day-to-day, I think is fair.”
Macdonald said of Walker’s expected absence: “It’s not long-term.”
The coach said “I’d like to see” Walker practice this week before he could play, but that is not a prerequisite to him playing against the Packers.
All this means Zach Charbonnet remains a possibility to start again for Seattle Sunday against the Packers.
Charbonnet had a career day replacing Walker in the lead role last weekend against the Cardinals. Seattle’s second-round draft choice in 2023 rushed for career bests of 134 yards on 22 carries with two touchdowns. That was the most yards rushing for a Seahawks since Oct. 23, 2022, when as a rookie second-round pick Walker romped for 167 yards in a win at the Los Angeles Chargers.
Macdonald, quarterback Geno Smith and Seattle’s linemen credited offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb for staying with the game plan he’d set earlier in the week to run the ball, particularly inside the tackles, against Arizona even after the Seahawks knew Walker wasn’t going to play.
Charbonnet also caught a team-high seven passes for 59 yards at Arizona. That included a 20-yard screen pass and run in the first quarter. He ran past a block by wide receiver DK Metcalf down the sideline that flattened Cardinals safety Budda Baker on Charbonnet’s gain inside Arizona’s 25-yard line.
Macdonald had said Monday, the day after Walker missed Seattle’s win at Arizona, that Walker was undergoing more medical tests “as we speak.”
The team has listed Walker as having “ankle/calf” injuries for the last week of practices and the game Walker missed.
“It’s definitely, it’s his calf at this point. It’s not his ankle,” Macdonald said.
The Seahawks (8-5) lead the NFC West by one game over the Los Angeles Rams (7-6) with four games remaining. The Seahawks and Rams play in Inglewood, California, in the final game of the regular season the first weekend of January.
Walker missed his third of 13 games this season Sunday at Arizona. It was his seventh missed game in 47 possible starts over his three-year NFL career at the sport’s most injured position with the shortest careers, on average. Walker missed two games in September with an oblique issue.
He’d been listed as questionable to play Friday before the Arizona game with the injuries he got rushing 16 times for 49 yards Dec. 1 in Seattle’s win at the New York Jets. Then on Saturday the Seahawks declared him out for the game.
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