Seahawks face significant questions in secondary ahead of Atlanta game

RENTON — The Seahawks will head to Sunday’s game at Atlanta with significant questions in their secondary after ruling out cornerbacks Tre Brown and Riq Woolen on Friday. 

Each is dealing with ankle injuries.

Seattle also ruled out right tackle Stone Forsythe with a hand injury with head coach Mike Macdonald announcing that rookie Michael Jerrell will start in Forsythe’s place against the Falcons.

Jerrell, a sixth-round pick out of Division-II University of Findlay, has played in only one NFL game, last Thursday against the 49ers, and only on special teams, where he got four snaps.

“He’s got a bright future and hopefully this is the start of it,” Macdonald said.

Seattle could have considered elevating veteran Jason Peters off the practice squad to start in place of Forsythe. But Macdonald said Peters will not be active for the game.

And that’s because Macdonald said the Seahawks will likely elevate Faion Hicks and Josh Jobe off the practice squad to add depth at cornerback with Woolen and Brown out, as well as Artie Burns having been placed on Injured Reserve earlier this week with a toe injury. Teams can elevate only two players each week off the practice squad.

Jerrell will become the third player to start at right tackle for Seattle this season and is technically the fourth-string right tackle.

Forsythe was starting in the place of the injured Abraham Lucas and George Fant. Lucas remains on the Physically Unable to Perform list while Fant is on Injured Reserve with a knee injury suffered in the opener against Denver. Fant is eligible to come off IR at any time.

Macdonald said Forsythe had some work done this week to repair an injury to his hand.

“He had some stuff messed up with his hand so he got it fixed,” Macdonald said. “So he’ll be back soon.”

No one else on the 53-man roster was given a designation, meaning everyone else is expected to play. Seattle also ruled out safety Jerrick Reed II, who returned to practice this week off the PUP list but is not yet ready to play.

Woolen will miss his second straight game with an injury suffered against the Giants while Brown will sit out with an injury suffered last Thursday against the 49ers.

Macdonald said there is optimism each may be back for a game Oct. 27 against Buffalo.

The news of those two missing the game comes on the heels of Seattle on Wednesday placing starting safety Rayshawn Jenkins on injured reserve. Macdonald said Jenkins had surgery on his hand Friday and that the team expects him back this season. He will have to miss at least four games being on IR.

That means Seattle will go into the game without what have been three of their top five players in the secondary — all starters when the team is in a nickel defense, their primary alignment — leaving only cornerback Devon Witherspoon and safety Julian Love.

Aside from Witherspoon, the only other available corners on Seattle’s 53-man roster are rookies Nehemiah Pritchett and Dee Williams. Williams’ main role, though, is as a returner.

That’s why the team is calling up Jobe and Hicks from the practice squad.

Jobe, an Alabama grad, entered the league with the Eagles in 2022 as an undrafted free agent and played in 28 NFL games with three starts before being released in August and then signed by Seattle. He played on special teams for the Eagles last year against the Seahawks in a 20-17 Seattle win at Lumen Field.

Hicks was a seventh-round pick by the Broncos in 2022 out of Wisconsin and played in two games with Denver as a rookie but only on special teams.

What would seem to be Seattle’s most likely option in the secondary is starting Witherspoon at left cornerback and Pritchett on the right side with Coby Bryant potentially playing the nickel. Pritchett, a fifth-round pick out of Auburn, has played 39 snaps this season as an injury fill-in but has not started a game.

Bryant was Seattle’s primary starter as the nickel as a rookie in 2022 before suffering through an injury-plague 2023 season and then being moved to safety.

K’Von Wallace is most likely to fill in for Jenkins — who was the only defensive player to have played all 388 defensive snaps for Seattle this season — at safety. But coaches said the Seahawks could also use Bryant and Ty Okada, the only other two safeties on the 53-man roster. Okada, from Montana State, was signed to the 53 this week to replace Jenkins.

Wallace has been Seattle’s third safety all season and has 19 starts in a career that dates to 2020.

Macdonald left it vague how the secondary alignments and rotations will unfold Sunday. Witherspoon has been Seattle’s primary nickel this season, moving inside when Seattle goes to five- or six-defensive back looks with Brown taking over on the left side.

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But without Brown and Woolen, Witherspoon may again have to play solely on the outside, as he also did against the 49ers. That limits how the team can use him in pass-rush situations. Macdonald, though, said the Seahawks will try to keep using Witherspoon some inside.

“If Spoon is not at nickel then you would see some other guys you might not have seen but have been repping there (in practice),’’ Macdonald said. “So the combinations, we’ll let them (Atlanta) figure that out at this point. Spoon will play nickel at some point, other guys will play nickel as well. But they’ve all gotten those reps so we should be ready to go.’’

Still, all of it projects as less-than-ideal going a hot Atlanta offense that behind veteran Kirk Cousins ranks sixth in the NFL in passing (254.7 yards per game) and 11^th in points scored (24.8).

Macdonald, though, spun it positively saying the absences mean “other guys on the roster will get a great opportunity to go out there and show what they can do. Excited to see them play.”

It’ll also mark a big jump for Jerrell, a 25-year-old who spent six years at Findlay.

“He had a great week of prep,” Macdonald said. “(He) has just kept improving since he’s gotten here. He’s come such along way in less than a year. Proud of him. He’s got a great opportunity. I know he’s excited, and I’m exited to see him go do his thing.”

Unclear is how Seattle would handle it if there are any other injuries at tackle to either Jerrell or Charles Cross on the left side as no one else on the 53-man roster is listed as a tackle of those who will be available Sunday. But rookie center Jalen Sundell (North Dakota State) and Sataoa Laumea (Utah) started at least one season at tackle in college. Neither has played an offensive snap for the Seahawks though Sundell has played 24 on special teams.