DK Metcalf out for Sunday. Another Seahawks starter will miss Rams game, key defender iffy

The Seahawks--and everyone else--saw what the offense looked like without DK Metcalf last week.

We are going to see it again.

The team Friday officially declared Metcalf out for its NFC West game against the Los Angeles Rams Sunday at Lumen Field (1:25 p.m., channel 13). The star wide receiver will miss his second consecutive game since he sprained the medial collateral ligament in his knee Oct. 20 in Seattle’s win at Atlanta.

“Just need more time,” coach Mike Macdonald said following Friday’s practice.

The coach had said at the beginning of the week he was “optimistic” Macdonald would play this weekend.

“It’s nothing that he could have done differently. We just need more time for him,” Macdonald said. “That’s what’s best for him and the team.”

Metcalf hasn’t practiced since the Atlanta game two weeks ago. In the second half he leaped to catch a pass from Geno Smith out of bounds and landed hard on his knee into the artificial turf at Mercedes-Benz Stadium while getting hit.

These are the second and third games Metcalf has missed in his six-year NFL career.

The Seahawks have their one bye week of the season following the game against the Rams Sunday. Macdonald said the team’s hope is Metcalf plays in Seattle’s game following the bye, Nov. 17 at San Francisco.

“We said week-to-week from the get-go, and I think that’s where we’re at,” Macdonald said Friday. “I think it’s fair to say we are going to take it week by week.”

The Seahawks lost 31-10 at home without Metcalf last weekend against Buffalo. Seattle converted a season-low one third down into a first down. The Seahawks offense ran just 47 plays. With his top deep receiving threat on the sideline in sweats under a rain coat, Smith and the offense scored just one touchdown against Buffalo’s zone pass coverage.

“I mean, obviously, we want DK anytime we can have him in there. He obviously changes the complexity of the football game,” Seattle offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said Thursday.

“I think it was more just a part of us not staying on the field in general. Just getting first downs, staying out there, sustaining drives. I think, more than anything, it was that.

“We just couldn’t sustain drives. It was tough to get in a groove and we just never found our rhythm, which was the first time I thought all season that we hadn’t. It didn’t matter what game it was prior to this one, the Buffalo game. At some point we caught our rhythm and we took off, and we’re able to advance the ball against anyone.

“This was a little bit of uncharted territory, and it was just a tough game.”

Ernest Jones IV’s new injury

New middle linebacker Ernest Jones IV cannot wait to play against the Rams. They drafted him, in the third round in 2021 out of South Carolina. They started him for three seasons, including in their Super Bowl win at the end of his rookie season.

Then as he wanted a new contract beyond his rookie one that ends after this season the Rams traded him. It was out of nowhere to him, at the end of training camp this late August.

“I’m excited,” he said Thursday.

The Rams traded him Aug. 27 from the Rams to Tennessee, choosing to go with veteran Troy Reeder as the new signal caller and Christian Rozeboom next to him at linebacker. Reeder is now on injured reserve. Rookie Omar Speights is starting at linebacker for Los Angeles.

Of his trade to the Titans two months ago, before the Seahawks traded with the Titans to add him to the middle of their defense last week, Jones said: “Yeah, I was definitely surprised. Yeah, surprised, the word I used. Definitely was shocked about the decisions that they made.

“But they taught me a lot in that process. Taught me a lot about the business. You’re never secure, no matter what you’ve done. So that’s kind of what I’ve learned in that position.”

Then Friday, Jones’ neck stiffened. He missed practice. The Seahawks list him as questionable to play his former team Sunday.

“It just stiffened up on him,” Macdonald said. “We’ll take that day by day, but we just took care of him today.”

Sounds as if Jones is likely to play Sunday.

Or, given his history with the opponent, try to.

Jones is key to the Seahawks’ chances Sunday. They traded for him to stop the run. In his Seattle debut he had 15 tackles last weekend, after just three days in the defense.

The Rams with coach Sean McVay always run at Seattle. McVay will be running lead back Kyren Williams, with touchdowns in 10 consecutive games, at the Seahawks Sunday.

That’s especially true with the rushing yards they’ve been allowing the last month: 164 yards by Buffalo, 155 by Atlanta, 228 by San Francisco and 175 by the New York Giants.

If Jones can’t play Tyrel Dodson likely moves from weakside linebacker to the middle spot where he started the first seven games of this season, before the trade for Jones. Rookie Tyrice Knight would likely replace Dodson at weakside linebacker.

George Fant poised to start

George Fant is readying to start for the first time since week one.

The ninth-year veteran has been on injured reserve since he injured his knee 13 games into the season Sept. 10 against Denver. This week, he’s been ramping up practicing to start at right tackle.

Macdonald said if Fant is to play Sunday the team will make the roster move to activate him off IR Saturday. The Seahawks would need to make a corresponding move to clear a space on the 53-man roster for Fant.

Rookie sixth-round pick Mike Jerrell from Division-II Findlay has started the last two games at right tackle. That’s since Stone Forsythe went on injured reserve. Jerrell was better in his NFL debut two games ago at Atlanta than he was against Buffalo last weekend.

Say that for pretty much every Seahawk.

Forsythe started weeks two through seven for Fant until he injured his hand.

Macdonald said the team is hoping starting right tackle Abe Lucas is back fully by the week following the bye to make his season debut Nov. 17 against the 49ers. Lucas hasn’t practiced or played since late December. He had surgery on his knee this past winter. He’s been practicing off the physically-unable-to-perform list thre last two weeks.

Noah Fant out

Lead tight end Noah Fant is out for Sunday with an injured groin. He got hurt in practice Wednesday.

Macdonald said the team believes Fant will be out a little while, but not four weeks that would cause him to go on the injured-reserve list.

Rookie AJ Barner has been getting more playing time in recent weeks, and figures to become more prominent in Grubb’s game plan against the Rams. Pharaoh Brown and special-teams mainstay Brady Russell also move up in prominence at tight end Sunday with Fant out.