Getty Seahawks tackle Charles Cross at Lumen Field on August 10, 2023.
The Seattle Seahawks started strong against the Los Angeles Rams in their Week 1 season opener at Lumen Field on Sunday, September 10, but things took a stark turn in the second half, and the team suffered an embarrassing 31-13 loss.
During the second offensive drive in the third quarter, starting right tackle Charles Cross exited the field with an injury and entered the blue medical tent. After being examined, he was carted off the field with a toe injury, the team announced, and didn’t return to the game.
Losing Cross long-term, the Seahawks’ former No. 9 overall pick from the 2022 NFL Draft, who signed a four-year, $21 million contract with Seattle last year, would obviously be a major blow.
#Seahawks starting LT Charles Cross leaves field on the back of a cart with an injury, apparently to his right foot.
RT Abe Lucas already out that last drive with a knee injury @thenewstribune
After the game, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll gave an update on Cross’ status. “Cross has a sprained big toe,” Caroll told reporters. “X-rays, from what I heard, didn’t look bad. We’ll see.”
Against the Rams, Stone Forsyth took over at left tackle while Jake Burhan took over at right tackle, as Abe Lucas had gone down with a knee injury on the previous drive. While both starting tackles out, the Seahawks offense put up a total of 12 yards on offense.
Hopefully, neither Cross nor Lucas, players USA Today’s Tim Weaver ranked as the No. 2 and No. 3 “most important players” on the Seahawks 2023 roster, will be out long.
ESPN Analyst Predicted Charles Cross to Have a ‘Breakout’ Season
GettySeahawks tackle Charles Cross at Lumen Field on December 15, 2022.
Fingers crossed Carrol is correct in his prediction with Cross, as the second-year tackle is primed to once again play a key role on the offensive line. ESPN’s Bill Barwell named the 22-year-old on his predictive “Breakout Players in 2023,” and was the only Seahawks player to make the list.
Barwell believes Cross could earn Pro Bowl honors this season. “Cross stepped into the most obvious position of need on Seattle’s roster and looked like he belonged from Day 1. Playing every single snap as a rookie, he locked down quarterback Geno Smith’s blindside and helped form one of the more promising young duos in football with fellow rookie tackle Abraham Lucas.
“Cross wasn’t perfect. Stats LLC credited him with six sacks allowed, and he committed seven penalties, including three holding calls. There’s still a lot to like here. Young left tackles Rashawn Slater and Jedrick Wills Jr. have set the bar impossibly high by excelling immediately as rookies in previous years, but Cross was well above the standard of the typical debuting left tackle. He should be even better with a year of reps under his belt.”
Pete Carroll’s Update on Abe Lucas Sounded Less Promising
GettySeahawks tackle Abraham Lucas at Lumen Field on November 27, 2022.
Carroll’s update on Lucas, the team’s No. 72 overall pick from the 2022 NFL draft, sounded less promising, as the tackle appears to be dealing with lingering pain.
“Abe’s knee acted up on him again,” Carroll said. “He doesn’t have a knee injury. It’s the same knee we rested him on during camp, and it just got really sore during the game and he couldn’t fire the way he needed to, and so we had to get him out of there. So, I don’t know what to tell you about that.”
As for losing both tackles, “It’s about as hard as it gets when both guys go, and we’ll see how Stone and Jake did, but you could see at the end, we were hurting a little bit protecting,” Carroll said.
While wide receiver Tyler Lockett briefly exited the game for concussion evaluation, “He’s fine,” Carroll said. “He was examined, but he was fine.”