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The Seattle Seahawks have made a big roster move ahead of the team’s Week 6 matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals. The team put cornerback/safety Coby Bryant on injured reserve (IR) and elevated wide receiver Cody Thompson from the practice squad.
Coby Bryant Will Be Out ‘a While’
Bryant, the Seahawks’ versatile second-year defensive back, will now be out at least four weeks now that he is on IR. It could be longer, though, as head coach Pete Carroll only said “it might be a while” before Bryant is back, according to Seahawks.com.
Bryant started Weeks 1 and 2 as the nickel DB but hurt his toe against the Detroit Lions on September 17 and hasn’t played since.
Thompson comes up from the practice squad to replace Bryant on the 53-man roster for the Seahawks’ Week 6 showdown with the Bengals. Despite shuttling between the rosters, Thompson has played in every Seahawks game this season. He’s been a key special teams contributor, playing 54 snaps on the unit in 2023. The former Toledo wideout only has 16 offensive snaps, but he did make his first catch of the year in Week 4.
With Bryant out at nickel, it has opened the opportunity for rookie first-round pick Devon Witherspoon to play in that spot. The No. 5 overall selection in the 2023 NFL draft responded well to the move the last time the Seahawks were on the field in Week 5. Against the New York Giants on Monday Night Football on October 2, Witherspoon had 7 tackles, 3 quarterback hits, 2.0 sacks, and an interception that he returned 97 yards for a touchdown.
Seahawks DBs vs. Bengals WRs Is the Key Matchup of Week 6
With Bryant out, Witherspoon, Riq Woolen, Michael Jackson, Tre Brown, Chris Steele and Kyu Kelly are the corners on the 53-man roster, with Jamal Adams, Quandre Diggs, Jerrick Reed II and Julian Love at safety.
That group will do battle in the Seahawks Week 3 matchup with the Bengals against wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd.
Last season, this threesome put up 2,837 yards, with both Chase and Higgins going over 1,000 yards on the year.
In 2023, the Bengals passing game has struggled in the first five weeks. QB Joe Burrow is still working his way back to health and form after a calf injury kept him out all preseason and lingered through the beginning of the campaign.
Cincinnati currently ranks 23rd in passing yards with 951 on the season. However, in Week 5, Burrow threw for 287 yards in a 34-20 win over the Arizona Cardinals. That was the first time the Bengals gained over 250 yards through the air this season.
Chase ended the Cardinals game with a staggering 15 catches for 192 yards and 3 touchdowns.
In the Seahawks-Bengals tilt, Woolen and Witherspoon will have the honor of covering one of the NFL’s most dangerous pass-catchers.
Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan lines Chase up all over the formation and is giving him more targets in the slot than ever. Chase has been in the slot on 27.6% of his snaps this season, per Nate Tice on Yahoo! Sports. On those snaps, Chase has 22 targets, which already bests his career high of slot targets, which was 19 in his rookie season.
In the slot, Chase and Witherspoon will be the likely matchup. The rest of the time, Woolen should be the one to get the responsibility of covering Burrow’s favorite WR.
Get your popcorn ready, Woolen and Witherspoon vs. Chase is going to be a killer matchup to watch.
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