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The last time Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch missed a regular season NFL game was October 23, 2011. Nearly four years later, though, that streak is in jeopardy.
UPDATE: Lynch is active, but he wasn’t spotted on the Seattle sideline:
Lynch, who reportedly needed extra time with the trainers in the locker room, missed the first series but was on the sidelines a couple minutes later and available to play.
Battling a calf injury that has kept him out of practice during the week, Lynch is a game-time decision for Seattle’s Week 3 matchup against the Chicago Bears:
RB Marshawn Lynch will be a game-day decision because of his calf injury, Pete Carroll said. #Seahawks
According to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, sources are “cautiously optimistic Lynch will be able to play.” Still, an official decision won’t likely be known until the Seahawks’ inactives are announced about 90 minutes before the 4:25 p.m. ET kickoff time on Sunday, so be sure to check here for the final word.
There are a few ways to look at this. First, Lynch has missed plenty of practice over the last couple of years, but that has never stopped him from suiting up on Sundays. On the other hand, though, the Seahawks are at home against a banged-up Bears squad. Favored by 15 points, they may simply treat this as a bye week for Lynch to make sure he’s 100 percent healthy.
If Lynch is unable to go, the Seahawks will turn to veteran Fred Jackson and undrafted rookie Thomas Rawls.
Jackson, who at 34 is still plenty effective, would handle a majority of the snaps–especially on passing downs where he’s a good blocker and receiver–while Rawls would be mixed in intermittently. Neither would obviously be able to replicate Lynch’s bruising, yards-after-contact style, but against the Bears at CenturyLink, it isn’t likely to matter.
