Charbonnet Back To Out With Late-Week Change By Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks sent a lot of what Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk called “mixed signals” this weeks, but running back Zach Charbonnet has now been officially ruled out against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night. 

Charbonnet returned to practice on Oct. 1 after suffering a torn ACL in Seattle’s divisional-round win over the 49ers back in in January. He was moved to the active roster this week, and he fully participated in practice on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

That led to Seahawks coach Mike McDonald saying it’s “exciting” to see his running back getting a full week of reps, and he added that there was a possibility that he might be on the field “in some capacity.”

It’s unclear whether this was a physical setback or a bit of coaching subterfuge, but McDonald insisted on Friday that it was all “part of the plan.” He said that Charbonnet was doing great, but now questions about his availability will stretch into next week.

The confusing situation doesn’t violate the reporting rules, according to Florio, who added that “it feels odd.” It also turned into a bit of embarrassment for Ian Rapaport of ESPNFL said on Friday’s Pat McAfee Show that Rapoport expects Charbonnet to “play and play a lot” on Sunday night. The clip was apparently deleted from Twitter, but per Florio it’s still in the YouTube version of the episode.

Florio also raised the spectre of gambling and injuries leading to odds manipulation, but this sort of thing has been going on for years now, and the Seahawks basically colored between the lines in this one. 

For the Chiefs, however, not having to face Charbonnet given the current state of the Seahawks running game without the star back could be a significant advantage. It raises the possibility that Kansas City pass rushers can now tee off on quarterback Sam Darnold, which the Denver Bronncos did with impunity in their 17-14 overtime win a week ago Thursday as they registered 17 quarterback hits and five sacks to force a pair of late interceptions that won the game for Denver. 

The running back’s absence is also a big disappointment for the folks at Sunday Night Football, who doubtless had all sorts of “Walker vs Charbonnet” graphics and commentary ready as Chiefs running back Kenneth Walker III returns to Seattle to face his old team. More importantly, the Chiefs now get to face an uninspiring running game that’s been lead by Emanuel Wilson and Geroge Holani at the moment.