Seahawks WR DK Metcalf sits out practice Thursday with back injury

RENTON, Wash. – The Seahawks’ injury report for Thursday looked much the same as it did for Wednesday with one real notable exception – receiver DK Metcalf sitting out with a back injury.

Metcalf was not listed on Wednesday’s injury report, and his back has not been one of the injuries he has dealt with during the season.

Coach Pete Carroll does not speak on Thursdays during the season. So, it was unclear if this is a significant injury or Metcalf just needing a day of rest.

Metcalf, however, was not seen on the field during the brief portion of time media can watch at the beginning of practice.

Metcalf dealt with hip and rib injuries earlier this season, missing or limited in practices consistently for much of September and October and missing a game against Arizona on Oct. 22 – the only game he has missed in his five-year NFL career.

Carroll will talk to media following Friday’s practice, and the team will also release a game status report Friday afternoon with declarations of likely player availability for Sunday’s game at Lumen Field against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Metcalf was one of nine players to sit out Thursday.

Others were receiver Dee Eskridge (ribs), offensive lineman Jason Peters (foot), running back Kenneth Walker III (shoulder/illness), linebacker Jordyn Brooks (ankle), defensive ends Mario Edwards (knee) and Dre’Mont Jones (shoulder) and outside linebacker Frank Clark (non-injury-related/resting player).

Carroll has indicated Brooks will have a hard time getting back for the Steelers game and also indicated Eskridge is questionable to play the rest of the season – he has missed the past four games.

Clark also did not play at Tennessee on Sunday due to illness.

Adams, Witherspoon again limited

In better news, safety Jamal Adams and cornerback Devon Witherspoon were each listed as limited, indicating each made it through Wednesday’s practice without any setbacks.

They have missed the last two games – Adams dealing with his chronically sore knee and Witherspoon with a hip pointer suffered against the 49ers.

But Carroll said there was hope each might be able to play this week.

Defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt seemed to indicate again after Thursday’s practice, though, that if Adams does make it back it could be in more of a situational role in the nickel and dime defenses, leaving Julian Love to be the full-time starter at the other safety spot alongside Quandre Diggs.

Asked what role Adams would play if he returns this week, Hurtt said, “Same role as he’s been in terms of playing in the big nickel spot and potentially dime. We’ll see where he’s at. He’s still in that role. He can be a dominant factor on the line of scrimmage.”

As for Witherspoon, Hurtt indicated he could return to his usual full-time role playing left cornerback in the base defense and the nickel.

“There’s always going to naturally be some sort of rust, but I think he’ll catch up pretty fast,” Hurtt said.

Better tackling helping limit explosive plays

After giving up a season-high 9.9 yards per play in a 28-16 loss to the 49ers on Dec. 10, the Seahawks have allowed just 4.7 and 5.2 the past two games in 20-17 wins over the Eagles and Titans.

The key to that has been limiting the number of big plays – Seattle hasn’t allowed a pass of longer than 18 yards the last two games after the 49ers had three of 44 yards or longer,

One reason has been fewer missed assignments as well as playing a bit more conservatively in the back end.

But Hurtt on Thursday pointed to a far more fundamental reason – better tackling.

Via Pro Football Focus, the Seahawks missed 12 missed tackles against the 49ers but had just seven against the Titans and six against the Eagles. PFF had the same numbers for the Tennessee and Philly game.

Each of those numbers is also below the average of almost 10 per game that PFF has charted for Seattle (149 missed tackles in 15 games).

And Hurtt said one reason for that improvement is a shift in some practice drills the last few weeks.

“[You’re] obviously always taking a look at reevaluating your drill work, what you do in practice,” Hurtt said. “There’s tons of different tackling drills and things like that we do. The biggest thing is obviously physically hitting something that has the weight that provides resistance. Some people call it a vertical sled, but it’s a heavier sled for guys to be able to hit and drag their legs. It’s a little bit more similar to striking a ball carrier. They have to sink their hips, drive for five, wrap up as well. We’ve done that the last few weeks. If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.”

So why not always just do those tackling drills?

Hurtt noted that practices are structured with that week’s opponent in mind, so drills often change.

“What you try to do is you create certain instances that happen,” he said. “Like if you play a team that’s a big perimeter screen team, they put the ball outside, there’s things with sideline tackling drills, leveraging the football, incorporating tackling in that is what you want to try to emphasize and focus on. Different things, like I said, pertaining to who you play.

“But really at the end of the day it was about us putting our bodies on people. Can’t necessarily do it in practice. But to use a sled that has some weight behind it, to do that to kind of emulate that, we had to do. It’s like, you know what, it’s been great for us the last two weeks, let’s keep it going. We’re getting ready to play another big back, big tight ends, big, physical guys. You have to put bodies on these guys. It’s going to be a physical style of game. We’re really aware of how they play, so got to be prepared for that.”