The Seattle Seahawks are set to fly to San Jose on Sunday ahead of Super Bowl 60 against the New England Patriots. Before their Wednesday practice, they’ll have to decide on whether or not their final eligible player to come off injured reserve will indeed be part of the active roster again.
Special teams ace Chazz Surratt has been on injured reserve with an ankle injury since the Week 12 win over the Tennessee Titans. With teammates George Holani and Elijah Arroyo activated from IR last week, that
leaves the Seahawks with one more IR-designate for return slot to use for the rest of the postseason.
The 21-day practice window
Surratt was cleared for return to practice on Tuesday, Jan. 13, the week of the NFC Divisional Round win over the San Francisco 49ers. As is standard for players on injured lists, Surratt has a 21-day window to practice before the team has to either activate him to the active roster or shut his season down.
Seattle’s first practice with an injury report for Super Bowl week is Wednesday, Feb. 4, so either Surratt is practicing that day or his season is over. We’ll know by Tuesday.
Who could Chazz Surratt replace on the active roster?
Should he return to the active roster, then the Seahawks will have to make a corresponding move to make room, which means either waiving a player during Super Bowl week or stashing a currently injured Seahawk on IR. The most likely candidate is rookie tackle Amari Kight, who was inactive against the Los Angeles Rams and was listed as doubtful in Friday’s game designations. It’s possible that Kight could end up with the same IR stash as fellow rookie Bryce Cabeldue.
It’s also worth monitoring the health of fullback Robbie Ouzts, who missed the NFC Championship Game with a neck injury and was limited in practice all week.
What happens if Chazz Surratt reverts to IR?
Nothing, I suppose. Seattle doesn’t have to tweak the active roster, Surratt doesn’t play in the Super Bowl, and while the Seahawks do keep their IR-return slot, no one else on injured reserve is coming back this year.
