Kenneth Walker ‘ready to go’ at Detroit; four Seahawks defensive starters out, one iffy

Kenneth Walker is officially back.

The Seahawks (3-0) did not list their lead running back on the injury report at all for their game Monday night at Detroit. He’s missed the last two games with an oblique injury he got late in his 103-yard rushing day Sept. 8, his seventh-career 100-yard game, in Seattle’s opening win over Denver.

The team listed Walker as a full participant in its walk-through practice Saturday in Renton, before the NFC West’s first-place team flew to Michigan to play the Lions (2-1).

Walker was a limited participant in practices Thursday and Friday.

“He’s looked good,” coach Mike Macdonald said following practice Saturday. “He’s ready to go.”

This is the same amount of time Walker missed after he injured his oblique last November, two starts.

Zach Charbonnet returns to the second-back role he had before Walker got hurt. Charbonnet, the second-round draft choice from UCLA last year, had 91 yards rushing with two touchdowns last week in Seattle’s win over Miami.

Kenny McIntosh returns to the number-three back.

“We’re kind of back to business as usual that we’ve had before the last couple of weeks,” Macdonald said.

Four defensive starters out

Defensive linemen Leonard Williams and rookie first-round draft choice Byron Murphy are out for the game Monday night.

So is outside linebacker Boye Mafe, the team’s co-leader in sacks through three games. His knee injury came two weeks ago while playing at New England. He missed practices last week then got his third sack of the season, against Miami.

“It’s nothing major,” Macdonald said. “It’s just something that kind of reoccurred in the Miami game that kept him out of this one.”

Uchenna Nwosu will miss his fourth consecutive game. He returned to practice Wednesday for the first time in a month, since a cut block by Cleveland’s Wyatt Teller in the final preseason game Aug. 24 sprained Nwosu’s left knee.

Nwosu then missed practices Thursday and Friday. The team estimated him as a limited participant Saturday.

The Seahawks thought Nwosu would return at least by this Detroit game. It’s why they didn’t put him on injured reserve to begin this season; players on IR must miss a minimum of four games.

Seattle has a shorter week following Detroit. The Seahawks host the New York Giants (1-3) six days later, Oct. 6 — then host NFC West rival San Francisco four days after that.

“It is a factor on certain guys. That’s definitely a discussion point,” Macdonald said. “It’s early in the season, so if we’re playing in the Super Bowl then it’d be a different conversation.”

In so many more ways than one, eh?

Williams injured his ribs in the first quarter of Seattle’s win over Miami last weekend. Murphy injured his hamstring in the second quarter of that game. The 16th pick in this year’s draft has gotten starter-like reps in the defensive-line rotation early this season.

Second-year defensive lineman Mike Morris is again likely to play more with Williams and Murphy out. Detroit native Johnathan Hankins becomes more key for Seattle as its only true nose tackle on the active roster.

Macdonald said the team doesn’t believe any of the four players out for the game Monday night are going to be longer-term injury concerns.

Jerome Baker iffy

Starting weakside linebacker Jerome Baker is questionable to play. He missed the Miami game with a hamstring injury he’s had since August.

Rookie fourth-round pick Tyrice Knight and special-teams mainstay Drake Thomas would likely split time at weakside linebacker for the second consecutive game if Baker cannot play. Macdonald praised Thomas’ play in his 19 snaps against the Dolphins. Knight got 35 last week.

Macdonald didn’t sound alarms Saturday about the defense being without four and perhaps five key guys against the Lions.

To the 37-year-old first-time head coach, this is why teams have 53 players on the active roster.

“We’ve got four guys that are down. That’s four more guys are going to be up,” Macdonald said. “Looking forward to seeing those guys play.

“When you talk about having depth on your football team, you want the feeling to be like, ‘OK, I can’t wait to see whoever’s going to get that opportunity now.’ So that’s our view, is that guys are going to have more opportunities than they’ve usually had. And looking forward to seeing what they do.”

Right guard shuffle

Anthony Bradford has started the first three games at right guard. He leads the team with six penalties, tied for second-most in the league. That’s twice as many as any other Seahawk has.

Bradford missed practice Thursday with a knee issue. Rookie third-round pick Christian Haynes as the first-time right guard that day. Bradford finished the week on the field and is not on the injury report for the game Monday.

Macdonald said Saturday Bradford and Haynes will play at Detroit.

“How much? We’ll see how the game plays out,” Macdonald said.