Seahawks’ Earl Thomas: Bobby Wagner shouldn’t have played in loss to Rams
Dec 17, 2017, 6:05 PM | Updated: Dec 18, 2017, 11:33 am
Seahawks LB Bobby Wagner was hampered by a hamstring injury against the Rams. (AP)
(AP)
There’s no doubt about Bobby Wagner’s toughness.
No questioning his desire or his effort, either, after he played in the Seahawks’ game Sunday against the Rams in spite of a hamstring injury.
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And when safety Earl Thomas was asked about how injuries affected the Seahawks, he mentioned the sacrifice his teammate made before wondering about the impact himself.
“To be totally honest,” Thomas said, “you’ve got to take your hats off to Wags, and a couple guys that played, but my personal opinion, I don’t think they should have played.
“The backups would have done just as good.”
Wagner has been bothered by the hamstring injury for about a month now. He has not practiced at all in any of the previous three weeks and was unable to finish the game last week in Jacksonville. Wagner left the game in the third quarter.
Thomas was asked if the injury affected Wagner.
“I have no clue,” Thomas said, “but you normally see Wags running from sideline to sideline and he just couldn’t do it today. I think he just waited a little bit too long to take himself out.”
Wagner was not in the locker room after the game presumably to receive treatment on the injury.
K.J. Wright suffered a concussion last week and was unable to play on Sunday. Wagner was a game-time decision, and he was declared active only after working out on the field about two hours before kickoff in front of coach Pete Carroll and the team’s head trainer.
“In warrior-like fashion he rose to the occasion to play,” Carroll said afterward. “He felt good in pregame. He had to try to find a way that he could play, and he did. I couldn’t admire him more for trying to help his team in every way that he could.”
There was no one thing that sunk the Seahawks on Sunday. No single player, no single play, but the Seahawks’ utter inability to stop the Rams’ rushing game combined with Los Angeles’ advantage in first-half field position was a one-two punch that was responsible for what amounted to a first-half knockout.
Todd Gurley rushed for 152 yards and three touchdowns in addition to scoring on a 14-yard pass.
Carroll was asked about the impact of injuries on Seattle’s defense in the game, and he pointed out that it was the first time in six years the Seahawks played with both Wagner and Wright being out.
“That might be as obvious an issue as anything,” Carroll said, “but still, that’s not why guys miss tackles and things like that. We have to do better.”
