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Brady Henderson, ESPN
RENTON, Wash. — The Seattle Seahawks have listed running back Kenneth Walker III and right tackle George Fant as doubtful for Sunday’s road game against the New England Patriots, presenting a challenge for their offense in Seattle’s quest to improve to 2-0 under new coach Mike Macdonald.
The Seahawks will also be without outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu (knee), arguably their top defensive player, as well as backup tight end Pharaoh Brown (foot). The team lists starting inside linebackers Tyrel Dodson (shoulder) and Jerome Baker (hamstring) as questionable, though Baker practiced all week in limited capacity and Dodson progressed to a full participant on Friday.
Walker went down in obvious pain at the end of a carry in the fourth quarter of the Seahawks’ season-opening win over the Denver Broncos. He immediately pointed to his side and did not return. It was first announced as abdominal pain, though he has since been listed as having an oblique injury.
Fant, who’s filling in at right tackle while Abe Lucas remains on the physically unable to perform list, hurt his knee 13 plays into the game. He needed to be helped off the field and was quickly ruled out.
Asked about his injury postgame, Walker told reporters, “I’m good.” Macdonald also said postgame that the team was optimistic that Walker was OK, but neither he nor Fant practiced this week.
“He feels good,” Macdonald said of Walker on Friday. “He’s getting better, but right now it’s doubtful and we’ll go from there.”
Walker missed two games last year and most of a third, also with an oblique injury. Asked about his chances of playing Sunday, Macdonald only said, “Doubtful.” He also kept things close to vest when asked whether Fant’s or Walker’s injuries could be serious, saying, “We’re just going to kind of let it play out right now.”
With Walker doubtful, Zach Charbonnet is in line to start. The second-year running back caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Geno Smith early in the fourth quarter against Denver but gained only 12 yards on eight carries.
A second-round pick last year out of UCLA, Charbonnet made two starts for Walker as a rookie, totaling 157 yards and a touchdown on 38 touches in those games.
“A lot of the same skill sets,” offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said of Charbonnet in comparison to Walker. “He’s an excellent receiver out of the backfield, he’s a very, very capable pass protector and obviously a very powerful runner, so I don’t think there’s anything in the game plan that would change if Ken was unavailable.”
Kenny McIntosh is the Seahawks’ third running back. They also have rookie George Holani on their practice squad.
Stone Forsythe replaced Fant in the opener and finished with a pass block win rate of 54.5% (six pass block wins and five losses), the lowest among 64 qualifying offensive tackles in Week 1. He was also flagged for a false start.
However, Seattle’s offensive line improved in the second half, allowing pressure on only 23% of Smith’s dropbacks with zero sacks after the quarterback was pressured on 47% of his dropbacks and sacked twice in the first half.
“He did a solid job,” Macdonald said of Forsythe, a fourth-year veteran. “We ended up winning the football game. There’s a couple pass rushes he gave up on the edge, and we’ll get those cleaned up. But he came in, we ended up winning the game, so winning football for us.”