Seahawks’ Brandon Shell and Carlos Hyde may sit, Greg Olsen out vs 49ers
Jan 2, 2021, 12:03 AM | Updated: 12:10 am
Tight end Greg Olsen tweaked his foot in his return vs. the Rams in Week 16. (Getty)
(Getty)
The Seahawks already have the NFC West locked up, and it appears they will go the route of being safe over sorry in at least one case Sunday.
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Tight end Greg Olsen, who returned last week following an impressively rapid recovery from a ruptured plantar fascia, will sit out Seattle’s regular season finale against the 49ers to rest his foot. Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said Friday that Olsen “tweaked” his foot in the Week 16 win over the Los Angeles Rams but that sitting Olsen is just a precaution.
Olsen, 35, made one catch on two targets for 15 yards against the Rams, giving him 24 receptions for 239 yards and a touchdown in his first season with the Seahawks.
Seattle has an additional pair of veteran players who, like Olsen, are in their first year with the team but could be out for the Week 17 game against San Francisco.
Right tackle Brandon Shell, who returned from a high ankle sprain to play against the Rams, could potentially be out again after having close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. Shell had tested negative for the virus as of Carroll’s press conference on Friday but the team will continue to monitor him to determine if he can play or needs to go on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
The other first-year Seahawks veteran whose availability is in question is No. 2 running back Carlos Hyde, who has missed practice all week due to illness (unrelated to COVID-19).
In better news for Seattle, cornerback Tre Flowers is set to return from his injured reserve stint for a hamstring injury in time to play Sunday.
Running back DeeJay Dallas has been ruled out for the game with an ankle injury suffered last week along with cornerback Jayson Stanley (hamstring). Olsen, Shell and Hyde are listed as questionable along with guard Mike Iupati (neck) and safety Damarious Randall (foot).
Though Seattle has already guaranteed its first division title since 2016, the game with the 49ers is still plenty important as there are scenarios where the Hawks can improve their seeding for the NFC playoffs. They can do no worse than their current No. 3 seed but as long as they win could jump into the No. 2 or No. 1 spots depending on what happens with New Orleans and Green Bay’s games. For more details, click here.
Sunday’s Seahawks-49ers game will be played at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., the home field of the Arizona Cardinals. San Francisco has hosted its home games there for the past month due to restrictions for team sports activities in its home county in California. Radio coverage of the game will be on 710 ESPN Seattle and KIRO Radio 97.3 FM beginning with the pregame show at 10 a.m. and kickoff at 1:25 p.m.
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