DK Metcalf in line for another challenging matchup when Seahawks play Patriots

RENTON, Wash. – DK Metcalf’s matchup Sunday with Denver cornerback Patrick Surtain garnered all kinds of online discussion.

There was plenty of analysis of who got the better of the matchup between Metcalf and Surtain, who signed a record-breaking four-year, $96 million deal earlier in the week and guarded Metcalf on 24 of 25 routes Sunday.

Breakdowns of film clips of every play featuring the two as Metcalf was limited to three catches for 29 yards but drew two penalties against Surtain, including a pass interference on the first scoring drive of the third quarter that put the Seahawks ahead for good.

Debate over how it might foreshadow for Metcalf this week as he goes against New England and a likely similar one-on-one matchup with Christian Gonzalez, a former Oregon standout who was the 17th overall pick of the 2023 draft.

Metcalf professes to have read or seen none of it.

During his regular weekly meeting with the media Wednesday, Metcalf noted he has been on a social media hiatus since last October.

“I’m kind of low key right now,” he said in an answer to a question asking if he’d seen this month’s Men’s Health magazine, which features him on the cover accompanying a story detailing his workout regimen. Metcalf said because of his social-media break he had yet to see the cover photo, though he said, “My mama told me it looked good, so that was good.”

Why the vacation from social media?

“Just a different perspective,” said Metcalf, whose page on the social-media platform X reveals he used to post or repost at least every other day or so. “Just being off of it, seeing how long I can go without it. One week turned into a couple months. Look back at it, really don’t need to be on it.”

Metcalf’s social-media break began at an interesting time.

Metcalf’s last activity on X came Oct. 14, when he retweeted a post from his father Terrence, a former NFL player, appearing at a Comic Con festival.

That was the day before the Seahawks lost at Cincinnati 17-13, a game in which Metcalf again drew attention for a personal foul – this one for unnecessary roughness for blocking Bengals cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt roughly 35 yards downfield, and far away from the play.

It was the fourth 15-yard penalty Metcalf received in the first five games last season.

A few days later, during his regular weekly news conference, Metcalf defended his style of play, saying he didn’t think he needed to change anything.

“I’m just going to leave that up to everybody else,” he said about the discussion of his penalties. “I don’t feel like I was a problem, or I need to make progress in a certain area.”

He missed the following Sunday’s game against Arizona because of what were stated as hip and knee injuries – the only game he has not played in his six-year NFL career.

Did the events of that week spark Metcalf’s self-imposed social-media boycott?

He didn’t say, but one could surmise he might not have wanted to wade into his mentions that week and it just went from there.

Metcalf had two penalties against Denver, but neither came from after-the-whistle activities.

He was flagged for holding and pass interference, the first penalty wiping out an apparent Kenneth Walker III touchdown in the third quarter, after which the Seahawks had to settle for a field goal.

He also couldn’t hang on to a fade route down the sidelines that might have gone for about 30 yards, a play some might have termed a drop, though it was not called one by either Pro Football Focus or Pro Football Reference.

As Tyler Lockett and coach Mike Macdonald noted later, Metcalf executed a crossing route well to create some traffic that allowed Lockett to get open for the final catch on a third-and-6 that sealed the win.

“I thought DK did a lot of great things,” Macdonald said. “There was an opportunity for him to make a play down the field, but found the ball a little bit later in the game. Like I mentioned too, there’s a lot of little things that he does that creates success for the rest of the team, and that’s big. So he needs to keep doing those things, and obviously we’ve got to try to get the ball to him earlier in the game to get him involved and get him rocking and rolling. I’m confident we’ll do that.”

“It’s always good to go against one DB for the whole game,” Metcalf said of the matchup with Surtain. “You get to study each other. Pat Surtain is one of the best corners in this league, as you all have seen. He’s a good matchup. He’s a smart, very patient corner. Just glad to get to go up against one guy and not have to switch techniques against multiple corners during the whole game. But it was a good matchup.”

He’ll get another one against Gonzalez.

The 6-foot-1, 205-pounder played just four games last season before a shoulder injury sidelined him for the rest of the year.

He’s now healthy, and in New England’s opener against Cincinnati was assigned to follow star Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase. Chase had six receptions for 62 yards but just three for 14 on the 20 routes he ran when covered by Gonzalez as the Patriots upset the Bengals 16-10.

Gonzalez and Metcalf were asked about the pending matchup Wednesday.

Neither said anything that would inflame social media.

“Great receiver,” said Gonzalez. “Everybody knows that. He’s a dawg. It will be a fun matchup.”

“He’s a very physical corner in press coverage,” Metcalf said. “When he’s off coverage, he tries to keep everything in front of him. I think this is just his fifth game in the NFL, so we’re going to see how he holds up for four quarters. You know he’s a very good young player.”

There will surely be a lot written and said about the Metcalf-Gonzalez matchup during the game and after. Just don’t expect Metcalf to see any of it.

“Simple life,” Metcalf said of eliminating social media. “Don’t have to worry about anything.”