Getty Geno Smith of the Seattle Seahawks looks on during the first half in the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium on December 10, 2023 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
The Geno Smith injury situation is the biggest thing to monitor as the Seattle Seahawks head into their crucial Week 15 matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Ahead of this game, where a loss could knock the Seahawks out of the playoff picture, head coach Pete Carroll detailed just how his starting quarterback picked up the surprising groin injury and gave an update about his status for the team’s December 18 Monday Night Football clash.
Pete Carroll Explains How Geno Smith Got Hurt
Geno Smith bruised his triceps in the second half of the Seahawks’ 17-16 Week 11 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on November 19. Seahawks fans knew all about that heading into the team squad’s Week 14 game on Dec. 10 against the San Francisco 49ers.
What The 12s didn’t know is that Smith picked up a groin injury in practice leading up to that game, which would cause him to have to sit out so Carroll would have to start Drew Lock. This injury and subsequent backup QB situation led to a 28-16 loss to the Niners, the Seahawks’ fourth in a row.
On his weekly show, “The Pete Carroll Show”, on Seattle Sports radio, the head coach finally explained exactly what happened to Smith leading up to the 49ers game.
“He finished a throw in practice, and one of our guys was just kind of crossing behind him and just kind of clipped his heel a little bit, and he stumbled, and on that stumble step he jolted his leg around and it jabbed his groin. It wasn’t a violent play in any way. It wasn’t a violent accident in any way. Just an unfortunate thing that happened. … He just got caught by surprise and landed funny. He didn’t even fall, he just took a weird step.”
Ultimately, Carroll said that ahead of the game, Smith was “fighting the whole way” but “he knew he couldn’t” go.
So, the question becomes, will Smith play in Week 15 on Monday night against the Eagles? Carroll has been talking about that all week.
The Geno Smith Injury Update
On his Monday radio show appearance, Carroll said he was hopeful that the next Geno Smith injury update would be a positive one.
“We’ll figure out where Geno is. I think Geno is going to be pretty good, though, because he could run around. We’ll just kind of see if he can get through it,” Carroll said.
On Thursday, December 14, with the Seahawks Week 15 tilt with the Eagles four days away, Carroll said at his mid-week press conference that things seem to be tracking in the right direction.
“Geno went through the walkthrough today. He’s gonna practice today. He had a good lift this morning, so we’ll see how each day goes, but one day at a time, we’ll figure that out,” Carroll told reporters. “But he feels really good, and he threw the heck out of the ball in the morning session, so we’ll see what happens today. We really hope he’s ready to go.”
As Carroll explained on Monday, his quarterback’s injury is more about running than throwing, but the update on Thursday sounds good, and with an extra day before Monday Night Football, Seahawks fans and players alike can be optimistic about their QB1 answering the bell.