Marshawn Lynch underwent surgery on November 25, and hasn’t played since November 15. In the interim, it seemed that the Seahawks had found a ready-made replacement in Thomas Rawls, but he broke his ankle in Baltimore and was ruled out for the season on December 13. It appeared that Lynch would be rested and ready for the Seahawks in the playoffs, that is until he ruled himself out of the Wild Card Game against the Vikings and didn’t even make the trip to Minnesota.
“He just didn’t feel like he had it,” Pete Carroll said of his RB after the game. “We finished practice [on Friday], and I went right to you guys, to talk to the media, just going on what I had seen. But when he went back to his locker and sat down, he just didn’t feel it. He didn’t feel like he could go, and that’s it. He just didn’t feel like he had it. There wasn’t enough time to build the confidence that he needed to come in and do something.”
Now Pete Carroll wonders whether he’ll be ready for next Sunday’s game in Carolina. “I don’t even know,” he said. “Just wait and see and take it one day at a time.”
The Seahawks, now 8-2 without Lynch and 3-1 without both him or Rawls, relied on Christine Michael and Fred Jackson to tote the rock yesterday in Minnesota. Michael had 70 yards on 21 carries, while Jackson had only one carry for two yards, but did chip in 19 yards receiving.
Lynch had 417 yards rushing this season, his lowest total since the 2010 season when he rushed for 573 yards in 12 games, his first season in Seattle.
Whether he plays or not, questions about the RB’s future in Seattle are growing louder. If the Seahawks were to cut the mercurial Lynch this offseason despite the new two year extension he signed last year, it would result in $5 million in dead money on their cap, according to Spotrac. Rawls meanwhile carries a cap hit of $530,000, a shade above the league minimum.
