With Jordyn Brooks out, Seahawks’ Tanner Muse eager to ‘get after it’

RENTON, Wash. – Seahawks linebackers Cody Barton and Tanner Muse got to know each other over the past year during regular fishing outings on the Green River.

They’ll be spending even more time together this week as the Seahawks’ new tandem of inside linebackers entering Sunday’s must-win season finale against the Los Angeles Rams.

“He’s been a good friend since I’ve gotten here,” Muse said. “We’re really tight, and he’s been helping me along with this process, and hopefully we’ll be able to get to shine together this weekend and really get after it.”

Muse, 26, is set to make his first NFL start against the Rams, a week after the Seahawks lost standout middle linebacker Jordyn Books to a torn ACL late in the first half of their victory over the Jets.

Barton moved over from the weak side to the middle to replace Brooks against the Jets, and Muse entered the game at weak side.

“Tanner’s an aggressive cat, you know,” Barton said. “He’s looking to hit somebody.”

Muse has played primarily special teams for the Seahawks. Until last Sunday, he had played just 22 snaps on defense in the first 15 games of the season. Against the Jets, he played 20 snaps at linebacker, recording three tackles and one pass defensed, and earning a strong grade of 90.4 from Pro Football Focus.

“I thought it was good. I thought I came in prepared, (even though) I didn’t get any (practice) reps the week of. So just going out there with flying bullets,” Muse said. “But it was tough seeing Jordyn go down. He’s our leader. He’s our alpha, and prayers to him. But I just have to come in, step up and get the team the win. That’s the main goal.”

Muse, listed at 6-foot-2 and 227 pounds, was a safety at Clemson, which went 55-4 and won two national championships in the 59 games he played from 2016-19. He converted to linebacker during the buildup to the 2020 NFL draft, in which the Raiders took him in the third round.

He didn’t last long in Las Vegas. Muse missed his rookie season in 2020 because of a foot injury, and the Raiders released him a week before the start of the 2021 season. The Seahawks signed him to their practice squad two days later.

“I knew an opportunity would arise eventually,” said Muse, a native of Belmont, North Carolina. “Just being drafted where I was, I always thought like my home was going be with the Raiders. But now being here and having another chance, I just want to do everything in my power to put this team in the best (situation) possible. I’m just thankful for them picking me up and giving me another chance here, and I just wanted to do the same and pay my debt.”

Because of his background as a safety, Muse has a good grasp of coverage responsibilities, Seahawks defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt said. Where he’s had to grow the most is in the run game, and specifically learning his “fits” in gap responsibilities.

“We love having him here,” Hurtt said. “A lot of times, when guys work from back to front, the run game part of it and understanding the fits is the last thing that comes along, but he has been in tune with everything. He’s a solid blitzer. He has really good fits. And he understands the passing game at a high level.

“He has a similarity to Cody in that matter, so he has done a really nice job of coming along at all of the linebacker spots for us.”

Seahawks look to get receiver Metcalf more involved

The raw stats indicated DK Metcalf made as little impact in Seattle’s 23-6 win over the Jets last Sunday as he ever has.

Metcalf had just one catch for 3 yards on five targets. It was the second-fewest yards Metcalf has had in a game, ahead of only a contest against Arizona as a rookie in 2019 when he was held without a catch.

“I said to DK sometime in the fourth quarter that, ‘It’s one of those days,’ ” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “The targets that we got, we just didn’t hook up on them. We went to him and went to him in a big way and down in the end zone for the touchdown, a couple of big (deep passes) that just didn’t work. It was just that day that the ball just didn’t get to him.”

But to offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, Metcalf’s imprint on the game was much greater than the numbers, pointing to how he influenced one of the biggest moments of the game — a 12-yard Geno Smith touchdown pass to Colby Parkinson just three plays into the game that gave Seattle a 7-0 lead that it never relinquished.

On the play, Metcalf lined up split left against New York cornerback Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner but with nickel corner Michael Carter also taking a few steps his way at the snap.

That, Waldron said, helped open things up for Parkinson, who was then left in man coverage on the right against safety Lamarcus Joyner.

And it’s worth noting that Metcalf’s 87 catches are already a career high, and his 1,008 yards are the second highest of his career.

Still, Seattle didn’t make Metcalf the seventh-highest paid receiver in the NFL before the season to be a decoy, even if Metcalf has proven to be a good one.

And the Seahawks need more production out of him to beat the Rams in a must-win game for the postseason Sunday — and to advance in the playoffs if they get there.