When the Seattle Seahawks formed their game plan to beat the New York Jets last week, C.J. Spiller was absolutely not in it.
He wasn’t even in the same state. Heck, he wasn’t even in the same time zone.
Up until four days before Seattle’s latest win, the 29-year-old running back was at home in South Carolina. He was in his second week as a free agent after the New Orleans Saints released him unexpectedly. He was working out at Clemson, where he starred a decade ago.
“Sunday? I went to church,” Spiller said, referring to Sept. 25. “And I was on my couch watching NFL football.”
His local South Carolina Fox television affiliate wasn’t carrying the Seahawks-49ers regional late game Sept. 25.
“I’m not sure what game I was watching, to be honest,” he said.
“It wasn’t Seattle.”
It is now.
This past Sunday, Spiller found himself in an end zone of the Meadowlands. He was holding the ball he caught on a pass from Russell Wilson for the first touchdown that sent the Seahawks off to 27-17 win over the Jets and a 3-1 record during this week’s bye.
A little different than being on his couch in South Carolina the Sunday before, channel surfing and hanging out with his 10-year-old daughter Shania.
“Like Shania Twain,” he said with a proud grin when asked for the spelling of his girl’s name.
The timing of his arrival not only onto the roster but into the offense and the end zone last weekend was exquisite. The Seahawks were learning lead back Thomas Rawls will miss another four weeks with a cracked fibula.
Coach Pete Carroll said Monday Rawls has “a crack, a hairline fracture, and that takes usually four to six weeks.” Last season’s NFL leader in yards per carry as a splash rookie got hurt Sept. 18 at Los Angeles, three quarters of play into his return from a broken ankle in December.
Rawls could be out until at least the Week 8 game against the Bills in Seattle on Nov. 9.
Plus, rookie C.J. Prosise — whom Seattle drafted in the third round in May to do the job Spiller did against the Jets — missed his third consecutive game last weekend with a cracked bone in his hand. Carroll said Prosise may remain out past Seattle’s next game, Oct. 16 at home against Atlanta (3-1).
Carroll may not have been as willing to concede that had Spiller not arrived so splendidly.
Nine snaps. Two carries, including one for 13 yards on a third-down draw. Three catches, including the twisting touchdown between two defenders that got the Seahawks going.
The injuries to Rawls and Prosise and Spiller’s instant production are why the Pro Bowl back with Buffalo in 2012 is going to be more prominent after this bye and into November than the Seahawks could have imagined just last week.
Spiller signed a minimum contract for the rest of this season on Wednesday. He only knew a portion of the playbook and none of the pass protections after just two full practices last Thursday and Friday. One of the plays he knew was Spiller spilling out of the backfield in the middle of the Jets’ zone defense near the goal line, open space past linebacker David Harris. Spiller had the option to go inside Harris or outside him to the left flat. He went middle. Wilson’s pass in the second quarter found Spiller 2 yards deep in the end zone, before Jets linebacker Darron Lee could get to him.
Left guard Mark Glowinski was the first Seahawk to greet Spiller. The big lineman lifted up the back by the chest like he’d known him for years, not days.
“Just something we worked on the two days that I was here,” Spiller said. “We talked about some good one-on-one matchups, and we got the look that we were looking for. It was up to me to win that one-on-one battle. And I could see Russ’ eyes, and we connected. A great play at the right moment.”
The right moment in more ways than one.
General manager John Schneider told Seattle’s 710 AM before Sunday’s game the Seahawks had been in contact with Spiller’s agent once he was released by the Saints Sept. 13. He had tryouts since with Green Bay and the Jets.
“I’ve talked to you guys before about how we’re always in every deal. So when he was released, we called, talked to his agent. He was going to go to Green Bay and then New York,” Schneider said, calling Spiller a “legitimate third-down back.”
“He committed to those teams first and then he was going to come visit us. For one reason or another, he did not sign with those teams. So we were able to talk to him on Tuesday night (the day Spiller visited the Jets) and get him in on Wednesday, got him (to take a physical). He met with the staff and everything. And we just decided to just go for it instead of waiting until Monday.
“We just did it and he had a great attitude this week. He’s a pro. We’re excited to see what he does (Sunday).”
They are even more excited now.
“I don’t know a whole lot more than we knew going in, but he was extremely impressive to us in practice, in preparation through the week, the fact that he can play in just two days, he showed up Thursday, was a great statement,” said Carroll, who tried to recruit Spiller to USC a decade ago before he chose Clemson.
“It’s great to have him and he’s a real dimension. He’s a very, very fast, very difficult guy to tackle, to stay with. He runs great routes and he’s got great hands, too. The fact that he’s smart and all that, that’s the kind of guy we like to add this time of year.
“We’re very fortunate to get him.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
