Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald provided a murky injury update on running back Kenneth Walker III. The star tailback left midgame during Sunday's devastating loss to the Minnesota Vikings with a sprained ankle. With this defeat, Seattle now needs a lot of help to climb back into the playoff race. The Seahawks must win the NFC West to make the postseason. The Los Angeles Rams lead the division by a game but hold the tiebreaker over Seattle.
Mike Macdonald's team ultimately needs Walker III healthy to put pressure on its divisional rival. The first-year head coach discussed his running back's status with the Seahawks reporter for The Athletic, Michael-Shawn Dugar.
“(Kenneth Walker III) has an ankle (injury). He's going to get imaging right now. Not sure the extent of it.”
Seattle's season has had some encouraging ups and frustrating downs
Looking at their schedule, if there was one word to describe the Seahawks' season, it would be “streaky.” Seattle has had three-game and four-game winning streaks this year and a stretch where it lost five of six. However, aside from a shocking loss to the Giants, Seattle has predominantly won and lost the matchups it was supposed to.
The franchise is ultimately stuck in this middle tier of being good but not great. Inconsistencies on offense have ultimately plagued the team despite having an explosive passing game. Seattle is scoring 22.6 points per game with the third-best passing attack in terms of yards a game. Unfortunately, quarterback Geno Smith has struggled with turnovers, throwing for 15 interceptions, the second-highest total in the NFL.
In addition, Mike Macdonald's team has also significantly struggled to run the ball this year despite having Kenneth Walker III. Seattle has the third-worst rushing attack in the league, averaging 91.9 yards a game. With their tailback, the Seahawks will be even more one-dimensional than they've been for most of this year. Walker III has already missed four games this season with calf and ankle injuries.
Seattle's last two games are against the slumping Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Rams. If the Rams lose at home to the Arizona Cardinals, the Seahawks will control their own destiny. If Sean McVay's team takes care of business on December 28, the franchise will miss the playoffs for the second straight year. That hasn't happened since 2009, and it might result in the organization needing to take a big swing at quarterback in the 2025 NFL Draft.
