Getty The Seattle Seahawks could be without Marquise Blair for the rest of the season.
Marquise Blair was beginning to hit his stride as the Seattle Seahawks starting nickel cornerback, but the team fears that he sustained a serious injury against the New England Patriots. After the Seahawks win, Pete Carroll admitted they believe Blair has a “fairly serious” injury but will not know until they get the MRI results.
“It’s a knee injury, and I don’t know how serious it is,” Carroll noted, per Seahawks.com. “I know you’re trying to ask a regular question there. Yeah, he has a knee injury and he’s going to get an MRI, and we’ll find out what it is. I’m sick about it. This guy is just getting started, just getting going with us. It’s a real shame. It’s probably fairly serious, because they had to help him off the field and all that stuff.”
The Seahawks were still able to pull out a win without Blair along with Quandre Diggs who was ejected. Blair had become a significant part of the Seahawks defense playing in 70 percent of the snaps against the Falcons, per Football Guys.
Carroll Praised Ugo Amadi’s Play in Blair’s Absence
Carroll appeared genuinely disappointed about Blair’s injury in his postgame press conference. The Seahawks coach praised Ugo Amadi’s performance in Blair’s absence and added that the team will “really ask him to set up.”
“I was really disappointed in Marquise Blair getting banged up,” Carroll said. “I don’t know how serious it is. He will be getting tested and MRIs and stuff like that to check out his knee. He’s been such a cool part of this team already in this early part of the season and such a significant part. The side of that is that Ugo Amadi came in the game to play his spot and did a really good job. He had 8 tackles and a tackle for loss and had a really good game for us, and had a couple good pressures and all that. We’re going to really ask him to step up.”
Blair Embraced the Position Switch From Safety to Corner
The Seahawks praised Blair as one of the standouts of training camp as he transitioned from safety to corner. Blair discussed the difference in the positions and his approach.
“Everything was brand new to me (last year), so really it’s just re-learning everything,” Blair explained, per Seahawks.com. “I feel like it’s easier… I knew what I was doing, but you still don’t want to mess up. Now I’m just rolling.”
Prior to the injury, Seahawks defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. believed they had found a perfect role for Blair.
“Now that he’s been able to understand his role, put him in a position to really master what that position, nickel, takes as far as technique, and the ability to rush, the ability to cover in man coverage, he makes us a really good man coverage team,” Norton noted to Yahoo Sports. “He’s able with his length and his strength to really cover really tight and sticky.”
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