You didn’t think Ernest Jones was going to sit out the showdown with his former team for the division lead, did you?
The Seahawks’ middle linebacker and centerpiece of their defense posted on social media Tuesday a GIF of Duke Deuce’s video from his 2019 song Crunk Aint Dead showing the rapper being brought back to life, up off his back to his feet.
That’s a pretty fair indicator Jones is returning from a knee injury that caused the former Los Angeles Rams Super Bowl-champion linebacker to miss Seattle’s win over Arizona last weekend and that he’s going to play against the Rams this weekend.
The 7-2 Seahawks and 7-2 Los Angeles meet Sunday in Inglewood, California (1:05 p.m., FOX television, Channel 13 locally) for first place in the NFC West.
Jones returning will present Seahawks coach and defensive architect Mike Macdonald with a decision: Keep Drake Thomas at weakside linebacker, where he was starting next to Jones the first eight games; or reward Tyrice Knight with getting his old weakside starting job back next to Jones.
Knight excelled starting at middle linebacker for Jones against the Cardinals last weekend. His interior blitzes and two sacks of Jacoby Brissett forced the two fumbles teammate DeMarcus Lawrence returned for touchdowns to spark Seattle’s 35-0 lead in the second quarter.
While Jones was out last week with the right-knee injury he got in the first half of Seattle’s victory at Washington Nov. 2, his defense got more whole. And not just with Knight’s uprising.
Two players many had rumored were leaving town two weeks ago showed they are still very much on the Seahawks defense — and in coach Mike Macdonald’s plans.
Boye Mafe on the board
Outside linebacker Boye Mafe, the subject of trade rumors with low production and an expiring contract at the start of this month, got his first sack of the season against Brissett last weekend.
“It’s been a while,” Mafe said after the game.
“Obviously, I appreciate all my teammates, all my coaches, just making sure they are on me, continuously believing in me and talking to me throughout the whole year.” ESPN reported last week the Kansas City Chiefs made a push at the trade deadline to acquire Mafe, to the point some thought the deal was done.
Riq Woolen’s still here
Cornerback Riq Woolen also had low production on an expiring contract. He reportedly also had teams calling about his availability in a trade up until the NFL trading deadline Nov. 4.
Woolen heard so much of the trade talk, last week he made a point in the locker room to tell a reporter he was the first to ask him about the rumors.
Against Arizona, Woolen, playing because Josh Jobe was out with a concussion, had his second consecutive strong game.
Woolen had a particularly stellar third quarter. He defended Marvin Harrison off a pass at the sideline on the third play of the second half. On a first and goal, Woolen denied Arizona’s Michael Wilson a chance to catch a back-shoulder throw to the opposite sideline in the end zone. The Seahawks held the Cardinals from scoring.
After Sam Darnold had a pass go off a blocker’s helmet while pressured for an interception on the first play of the ensuing drive, Woolen did something no other Seahawk did last Sunday: He stopped Trey McBride.
Woolen lined up in the right slot in the red zone in man-to-man coverage on Arizona’s tight end who had nine catches for 127 yards and a touchdown in the game. Brissett threw basically a jump ball into the end zone for McBride to leap to catch. The 6-foot-4 Woolen leaped with the tight end and two-hand slammed the ball away from McBride toward where it came from, incomplete. Woolen then raised and waved his index fingers to emphasize the denial.
Teammates Nick Emmanwori and Coby Bryant came over in the end zone to congratulate Woolen.
The next play Arizona called a quick pass to a hitch route by Emari Demercado that depended on the running back making the play side cornerback miss on his tackle after the catch. That was Woolen. He did not miss. He grabbed Demercado’s leg and brought down the Cardinal in the open field to force fourth down.
Making plays on the ball and open-field tackling were Woolen’s biggest problems earlier this season. He would have been benched for Week 2 at Pittsburgh. But Devon Witherspoon missed the game with a knee injury so the Seahawks needed Woolen to start.
Same thing two weeks ago when Witherspoon and the previously injured Emmanwori were both back from injury and playing together for the first time since the first drive of the opening game. Jobe, Witherpsoon and Emmanwori started that game at Washington. Woolen had four snaps as the sixth, dime defensive back in the first half before Jobe got concussed. That put Woolen back as the primary outside cornerback again.
Macdonald was asked Monday for an explanation for Woolen’s strong play the last two games, through the rumored trade deadline when a deal some thought was coming sending Woolen out of Seattle never did.
“It’s a process, brother,” the head coach said.
“It’s just the incremental gains every day. (He’s) just been going to do the reps with the attention to detail, the preparation, the extra ball drills, and all those things that makes the ball come to life on Sunday.”
Macdonald said Woolen has been “stacking” great practices for weeks, since returning from a concussion that caused him to miss a game last month.
“He has stacked for about a month now. He’s stacked a lot of great practices, all the preparation and all the steps,” Macdonald said. “When you watch our practice, he’s been incredibly productive in practice, making plays on the ball, and you’re seeing that on tape.
“The way he finished plays in the past game (against Arizona) was great.”
Mafe providing more pass rush and Woolen playing the ball better, with Jones returning, would make Seattle’s defense the best it’s been in a while Sunday against MVP candidate Matthew Stafford and the 37-year-old quarterback’s Rams.
That’s saying something, given the Seahawks and Rams are the two best scoring defenses in the NFC. Seattle owns the league’s best point differential (275 points scored, 172 allowed).
And now the Seahawks might be getting all of their pass rush more married with better coverage in the secondary, which is vital against Stafford. He’s become the first NFL quarterback with four or more passing touchdowns and no interceptions in three consecutive games.
“It’s everything. I feel like that’s one of the most important parts. I feel like we rely so much on the DBs, and they rely so much on us,” Mafe said. “The fact is, we don’t need to blitz all the time. We can send four guys and still get the job done (on the QB).
“We trust them in the back end to cover it up and give us time to get to the quarterback.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
