Behind head coach Pete Carroll, if one thing is for sure, the Seattle Seahawks want to run the football. However, who will carry the rock out of the Seahawks' backfield is now a genuine concern.
Already without starter Kenneth Walker III, who is out with a groin injury, the Seahawks lost rookie Zach Charbonnet to a shoulder injury on Saturday. The 2023 second-rounder is out indefinitely, per Carroll.
#Seahawks HC Pete Carroll on RB’s not practicing today:
— Taylor Bisciotti (@TaylorBisciotti) July 30, 2023
Kenneth Walker has a groin injury and may remain out a while until they quiet that down.
Zach Charbonnet has shoulder injury and is getting checked by docs today. Out indefinitely.
While it's hard to speculate, Charbonnet's injury designation alone should be enough to signal alarm bells. However, Carroll added another ominous layer, revealing that Charbonnet's injury was of the dreaded non-contact variety.
"He didn't get hit or anything like that, he just all of a sudden started to feel something," Carroll told reporters via Gregg Bell of the Tacoma News Tribune. "So, we're just checking him out and being really cautious right now."
Meanwhile, the news on Walker isn't any better. Dealing with a groin injury since the start of camp, Walker could be out "a while," according to Carroll. Walker missed his third-straight practice on Sunday, and Carroll said while the running back isn't hurting, the team will wait until it "quiets down" instead of potentially reaggravating the injury by having him return too fast.
The Seahawks don't seem to be pushing the panic button yet, but Carroll himself admitted to being "ambiguous" when asked about the status of Walker and Charbonnet. If their top two backs miss extended time, the Seahawks will have to turn to DeeJay Dallas and Kenny McIntosh unless they bring in some outside help. A 2020 fourth-round pick, Dallas has rushed for only 432 yards with four touchdowns in 44 career games with Seattle, while McIntosh, picked in the seventh round of the 2023 draft, has, obviously, yet to play an NFL snap.
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