Injuries are going to play a huge part in the AFC Championship. But they are likely to have a major impact on the NFC Championship Game as well. Especially on the Seattle Seahawks’ side.
The Los Angeles Rams have one of the cleanest injury reports you’re like to see this late in a football season. They had just two players miss practice on Wednesday, and just two who were limited. That’s it.
It’s a different story for the hosting Seahawks. Running back Zach Charbonnet is definitely out after tearing his ACL last week. But it goes deeper than that. Seven players were limited participants for Wednesday’s practice, with another four also listed on the report as they returned to full participation after injuries.
But the most important thing is the three guys who did not practice at all on Wednesday: Charles Cross (foot), Josh Jones (knee/ankle), and Amari Kight (knee).
Having three guys not practising is no biggie. But what is a biggie is when those three guys all play the same position: left tackle.
And not only do they all play left tackle, they are Seattle’s top three left tackles on the depth chart right now. And if Seattle doesn’t have anyone to play left tackle, that spells big trouble for quarterback Sam Darnold.
Darnold is already dealing with his own oblique injury, so he doesn’t need anything extra to worry about. But his blind side is definitely a worry right now. And we all know how Darnold starts to look when he’s put under constant pressure (see: 2024 Week 18 and Wild Card weekend).
This year, Darnold led the league with 11 TD passes while under pressure, per PFF. However, he also tied for the league lead in interceptions when under pressure, with eight. His 10 turnover-worthy pays (TWP) when under pressure were also top 10 in the NFL.
If all three of these left tackles are somehow ruled out, Darnold is going to be “seeing ghosts” again just like he used to in New York.
And he should count himself lucky that Aaron Donald isn’t on the Rams’ defensive line anymore.
All 3 Seahawks LTs have dealt with an injury over the last week
Head coach Mike Macdonald said this week that he is “optimistic” that starter Charles Cross will play. But the veteran has been in and out of the lineup. Cross missed the final three games of the regular season with a hamstring injury.
He then suffered a knee injury last week in practice as he returned to the lineup for the Divisional round. Cross started that game, but was forced to leave the win over the 49ers in third quarter the due to the foot injury that continues to keep him out of practice.
Macdonald characterized his top two backups, Jones and Kight, as “day-to-day”. Jones started for Cross in those final three regular season games, but he has been out with his knee injury since Week 18.
When Cross went out last week, it was the third-stringer Kight who stepped in. Then the undrafted rookie, of course, picked up a knee injury of his own during that game.
If worse comes to worst and none of them can go, seventh-round rookie guard Mason Richman looks to be the fourth-stringer according to Seattle’s official depth chart. Richman has played a total of one offensive snap this year.
Sam Darnold better send those LTs some “get well soon” cards and some Icy Hot if he knows what's good for him.