Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Jarran Reed is battling an injury leaving the team’s practice on Friday, August 14 and did not return, per The Seattle Times’ Bob Condotta. Poona Ford also dealt with an injury but stayed on the field after being attended to by the Seahawks medical staff. Condotta reported that Reed is dealing with a “lower leg injury.”
“Reed came up limping after an early drill, and after walking around a little bit headed into the locker room and did not return,” Condotta explained.
The Seahawks have not provided an update on Reed’s status and had a rare training camp off-day on Saturday, August 15. Even if the injuries do not turn out to be significant, it is worth monitoring as the Seahawks are already thin at defensive tackle. Sports Illustrated’s Corbin Smith believes the Seahawks will make a move to add another player at the position.
“Seahawks have already been taking close look at defensive tackles for several weeks,” Smith noted on Twitter. “With Jarran Reed and Poona Ford both dealing with injuries already – even if not serious at all – have to think an addition is coming there any moment. Two names I’ve consistently heard since July: Damon Harrison and Timmy Jernigan. Marcell Dareus more recently being a player linked to Seahawks as well. All three remain unsigned.”
Jernigan has agreed to terms with the Jaguars, so the Seahawks’ options continue to be shrinking.
The Seahawks Re-Signed Reed Over the Offseason
The Seahawks are counting on Reed for a bounce-back year after missing the first six games of last season with a suspension. After notching 10.5 sacks in 2018, Reed only had 2.5 in his 10 games last season. Over the offseason, Reed was a free-agent and the Seahawks re-signed the defensive tackle to a two-year, $23 million contract.
Re-signing Reed was the team’s first significant move of free agency showing how much trust they have in the former Alabama standout. According to USA Today, the Seahawks have the option of releasing Reed after 2020 making the 2021 season a non-guaranteed part of his deal. This summer, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll described it as “important” that Reed regains his 2018 production.
“What happens in the third down situations, when we move guys around some, you’ll see Rasheem and L.J. will work inside, along with (Jarran) Reed, we think we have a nice mix in that regard,” Carroll noted, per Seahawks.com. “Those guys are developing pass rushers, and they’re learning their way, and both have a lot of ability and a lot of upside to them. So, we can have some real fresh players coming in, with rotation. We have enough depth right now, to move it around. But you have to look at the guys that play the 5-technique for us, the defensive ends, they are also considered inside rushers for us. We’ll have at least four guys to move in and out of there to keep a rotation going. We’ll see how we do. It’s important that J-Reed comes back to the kind of production he had a couple years ago. If he can have any type of production close to that, with what we’re doing outside, it’s going to be a nice mix.”
Reed Will Wear No. 90 in 2020
Reed created a bit controversy after announcing he was wearing No. 90 this season, which was Jadeveon Clowney’s number. Reed announced the news as the Seahawks were in the midst of negotiations with Clowney this offseason. Back in April, Seahawks general manager John Schneider noted that he had not approved Reed’s number change.
“I think you’re buying into it, because I don’t remember approving that yet, so I don’t know,” Schneider said, per The Seattle Times. “I don’t know where that came from, but yesterday morning it was definitely, something was going on.”
When the Seahawks released the official numbers for this season, Reed is indeed back to wearing No. 90. The defensive tackle gave up his normal number in 2019 when the Seahawks acquired Clowney.
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Key Seahawks Starter Leaves Practice With an Injury: Report