For anyone hoping to see even a small glimpse of Seattle Seahawks rookie running back Jadarian Price against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday night (5 pm PT, FOX), all you’ll get is him in pads but exclusively on the sideline.
Tacoma News Tribune’s Gregg Bell has revealed the Seahawks’ plans for both the Titans game and some of what is in line for the Kansas City Chiefs finale on Friday. The big headline is that Price, who ramped up with padded practices this week after missing time the week before
with upper leg soreness, has shown enough in practice that the Seahawks won’t even risk him in preseason reps.
Price, the first-round pick the Seahawks drafted this spring to replace departed (to Kansas City in free agency) Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker, will not play Sunday night against the Titans. He’s not going to play at the Chiefs Friday, either.
Macdonald and general manager John Schneider have seen enough of Price’s speed, decisiveness in cutting into outside-zone run gaps and his pass catching to know Price is too valuable, and the running-back room too thinned by injuries already this preseason, to risk the rookie lead back in these games that don’t count.
Price himself missed a week this month with what Macdonald vaguely described as “upper-leg soreness.” So, no preseason games in uncontrolled environments against hungry foes such as the Titans that are planning to play their starters through the first half.
This should mean another busy night for George Holani and Velus Jones Jr. We’ll also see Anthony Hankerson likely get some carries after he was signed earlier this week. Emanuel Wilson doesn’t appear to be ready to play after getting injured in camp earlier this month.
Bell also noted that the usual starters like Sam Darnold, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, DeMarcus Lawrence, and others are not expected to play any part of preseason, so the first we’ll see of them in live action is the season opener versus the New England Patriots.
As far as tonight’s quarterback situation, Drew Lock is slated to start the first half, while Jalen Milroe gets the second half. This seemingly puts an end to the “rotate every two series” strategy utilized last week in what was a disjointed showing versus the Dallas Cowboys.
Lastly, new cornerback Trevon Diggs just arrived on Wednesday, so it was probably asking a lot for someone who’s dealt with a lot of injuries to get snaps on Sunday. The Chiefs game on Friday is evidently more feasible for him to make his Seahawks debut.
