RENTON — The news, given how studly and invaluable Grey Zabel has become to their offense and entire team, might be worthy of a Seahawks parade.
The rookie guard is OK.
Results from his magnetic resonance imaging tests Monday showed no major damage to Zabel’s knee, coach Mike Macdonald said.
“Really fortunate,” the coach said Monday afternoon, a day after Zabel looked to be seriously injured late in Seattle’s 21-19 loss at the Los Angeles Rams for the NFC West lead.
“We avoided a significant injury, which is really positive.
“I’d say — the words I heard were ‘day to day.’”
The Seahawks (7-3) don’t yet know what that means for Zabel’s availability to start again at left guard on the offensive line Sunday at Tennessee (1-9), as he has while excelling and at times dominating through the first 10 games of the first-round draft choice’s NFL career.
“You know how that goes. It could be day to day. It could be a week. It could be … more than that,” Macdonald said.
“But nothing significant, which is a huge positive.”
Rams linebacker Jared Verse pushed left tackle Charles Cross across the offensive formation into the back of Zabel’s legs as the guard was completing a kick-out block on Los Angeles’ Jaylen McCollough to end Kenneth Walker’s 1-yard touchdown run off right tackle with just over 2 minutes left Sunday. The rugged rookie was down multiple minutes with his facemask pressed into the turf at SoFi Stadium. Zabel needed two assistants to help him off the field to the sideline.
Eventually, they helped him into the blue medical tent behind the Seahawks’ bench, then into the locker room as the game continued.
Christian Haynes replaced Zabel for the Seahawks’ final drive of the game, a frantic, 10-play drill from their own 1-yard line across midfield in the final minute, then seconds. Darnold led the offense down the field, but not far enough. Jason Myers’ 61-yard field goal that would have equaled his career high was short and wide as time expired.
Christian Haynes, Olu Oluwatimi at LA
Haynes, the team’s third-round draft choice in 2024, had been on injured reserve for the first nine games with a pectoral injury. The Seahawks activated him from IR Saturday to back up Zabel.
“For Christian not having, really, been active and seeing his first football action, I thought he did a good job,” Macdonald said of Haynes at the end against the Rams. “There’s some things he’s going to clean up, and he’ll do that.”
For now with Zabel’s playing status unknown, Seattle is without its starting center and left guard on the offensive line. Jalen Sundell went on injured reserve Saturday with his own knee injury. Olu Oluwatimi started at center for Sundell against the Rams. Remarkably in this injury-filled sport, that was the first game this season the Seahawks didn’t have their core starting five offensive linemen playing together.
Oluwatimi said Thursday, knowing he was going to start Seattle’s biggest game yet this season against the Rams’ young, athletic defensive front: “I feel good. I’m ready to play ball.”
He proved to his coach he was.
“I thought Olu did a tremendous job,” Macdonald said. “Stepping in, being ready to go. Decisive with his calls. Again, things that we need to clean up as a front, as an offensive line, but it’s not for a lack of effort. We’ll get those things fixed.
“We’re just continuing to grow.”
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