QB Geno Smith hurts knee; Seahawks down 4 starting OL

The first half of the Seattle Seahawks’ Week 4 clash with the New York Giants wasn’t kind to the Hawks as the injuries piled up in a major way, most notably at quarterback. Thankfully for Seattle, the team’s Pro Bowl signal caller is back.

First, safety Jamal Adams suffered an apparent concussion on the ninth defensive play of the game for Seattle in the first quarter and was quickly ruled out.

Seahawks 24, Giants 3: Recap | Sack record | Reaction | Stats

Later, the Hawks lost two starting offensive linemen.

But the biggest story for a bit was quarterback Geno Smith left the game in the second quarter with a knee injury. After being listed as questionable to return, he is back for the start of the third quarter.

Backup quarterback Drew Lock completed two of five passes for 63 yards and also rushed once for 11 yards and a first down in Smith’s absence.

Smith suffered his injury on a funky play, where his pass was deflected at the line of scrimmage and he caught the batted ball. He then scrambled to his left, and was tackled by Isaiah Simmons at the New York sideline. Smith’s legs appeared to get rolled up on, and he was slow to get up.

After going to the Seahawks’ sideline, Smith quickly returned to the field and started getting into a verbal altercation with the Giants’ defense. Once that drive ended, Smith went to the injury tent and was carted to the locker room before halftime and ultimately returning in the third quarter.

As for the offensive line, it looks much different than in Week 1.

Usual starting left tackle Charles Cross and right tackle Abraham Lucas haven’t played since the opener after suffering toe and knee injuries, respectfully. Lucas was placed on injured reserve ahead of Week 2.

Then on Monday, Seattle lost not just one, but two starting guards.

Right guard Phil Haynes was the first to leave the game. He injured his calf and was quickly ruled out. Haynes missed last week with a calf injury.

Soon after, left guard Damien Lewis went down with an ankle injury. He was shown being carted to the Seahawks’ locker room and, like Smith, is questionable to return and he didn’t return after halftime.

With those two joining Cross and Lucas as starters sidelined, Seattle currently has four backup offensive linemen in the game against New York. And that’s not even the extent of the shuffling the Seahawks have had to do.

Starting center Evan Brown, who himself was questionable to play this week with a quad injury, moved to left guard while rookie Olu Oluwatimi came in at center. Fellow rookie Anthony Bradford came in for Haynes at right guard. Stone Forsythe is in at left tackle again for Cross and Jake Curhan is again starting in place of Lucas.

More from the Seattle Seahawks’ win

• The Big Plays: Seahawks defeat Giants 24-3
• Witherspoon returns first interception for TD, has two sacks
• Seahawks’ Jamal Adams ruled out after nine plays with concussion

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