RENTON — All signs are Geno Smith is going to play.
Three days after he was unable to play the final 1 1/2 quarters of the Seahawks’ home loss to Green Bay because of a knee injury, Smith was on the field throwing at the start of practice Wednesday, as usual.
After practice ended the team listed him as a full participant.
Those are strong signals Smith will start Sunday when the Seahawks try to stay in the NFC West race while hosting the Minnesota Vikings.
The 34-year-old, two-time Pro Bowl quarterback walked out of the team’s facility onto the field and threw passes to a team assistant while backup Sam Howell threw them back to a staffer standing next to Smith. Coach Mike Macdonald stood next to Smith as the QB threw in the 10 minutes of practice open to reporters.
Smith was relatively stationary as he threw; he didn’t drop back to pass or roll out in the initial portion of practice.
Smith completed 15 of 19 passes before Green Bay’s Edgerrin Cooper twisted his left ankle and leg following a short throw incomplete with 5 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter Sunday night. Seattle trailed 20-3 at the time. Smith threw a costly interception into the end zone in the second quarter with the Seahawks poised to score down 17-3. It was his league-leading fifth interception in the red zone, inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, this season.
Reserve Sam Howell played the final 20 minutes of the game for Smith. He had played only one snap all season before the Packers game. The Washington Commanders’ starter last season completed 5 of 14 passes for 24 yards with four sacks and an interception.
So, no, that would not be good for the playoff hopes of the 8-6 Seahawks if Smith can’t play against the 12-2 Vikings Sunday.
“Geno feels good. Did walk-through today,” Macdonald said before practice. “We’ll see how many reps. We’ve got a plan for practice, and we’ll see how it kind of alters his practice starts to declare, but he’ll be out there for a significant capacity (Wednesday).
“We’ll see how many reps he takes.”
Monday, the head coach said he believed Smith would take the majority of first-team snaps in practices this week and play Sunday.
Kenneth Walker, Zach Charbonnet updates
Lead running back Kenneth Walker did not practice as Macdonald had hoped he would Wednesday. Walker has missed the last two games with a calf injury. He has not practiced since Dec. 4, on a limited basis that day. That was three days after he played throughout the Seahawks’ win at the New York Jets.
Zach Charbonnet has started the last two games for Walker. Charbonnet missed practice Wednesday with an oblique issue.
Second-year man Kenny McIntosh and undrafted rookie George Holani are the other running backs on Seattle’s active roster.
Macdonald said of Walker before he didn’t practice Wednesday: “We’re optimistic. We’ll see about how many reps (Wednesday afternoon). But (he) but did (morning) walk-through.
“Probably ramp it up a little bit more (Thursday).”
Center situation
Olu Oluwatimi missed practice three days after he left the loss to the Packers in the first quarter with what Macdonald said were knee and quadriceps injuries.
Undrafted rookie Jalen Sundell played the final 3 1/2 quarters at center against Green Bay. He’s in line to start again Sunday against Minnesota.
Macdonald said the team is working through who would be the backup to Sundell if Oluwatimi can’t play this week.
But the coach sounded like Oluwatimi may play against the Vikings.
“(He) should be out there (Thursday) rockin’ and rollin’,” at practice, Macdonald said.
This story was originally published December 18, 2024, 3:56 PM.
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