Seahawks Elevate 2 Defensive Backs Amid Major Secondary Injury Concerns for Week 6
The Seattle Seahawks will receive reinforcements in the secondary from cornerback Shaquill Griffin and safety Jerrick Reed II for Week 6. The team appears to need them badly.
The Seahawks announced Saturday elevating both Griffin and Reed from the practice squad for Sunday’s Week 6 matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Seattle promoted both defensive backs while simultaneously ruling out cornerback Riq Woolen.
Fellow cornerback Devon Witherspoon and safety Julian Love are also both doubtful.
Woolen will miss Week 6 with a concussion, which he sustained on October 5 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Witherspoon and Love continue to deal with lower-body injuries. Witherspoon has a knee injury while Love is nursing a hamstring issue.
The defensive backs have each missed at least two games this season.
Griffin and Reed will both be dressing for their second game of 2025. Griffin didn’t record a statistic while playing three defensive snaps during Week 2. Reed had two combined tackles in Week 3.
Shaquill Griffin Has Made His Return for Seahawks
Since he briefly played during Week 2, Griffin will not be making his first appearance since returning to Seattle this year. But the veteran cornerback is in the midst of his second tenure with the club that drafted him.
Griffin began his career with the Seahawks as a third-round pick in 2017. He spent four seasons with the team, including the 2019 campaign when he made the Pro Bowl.
After his rookie contract expired, Griffin joined the Jaguars on a three-year, $40 million deal.
Perhaps Griffin will be motivated to face Jacksonville on Sunday. The Jaguars released Griffin after two seasons.
The cornerback spent the past two campaigns with the Houston Texans, Carolina Panthers and Minnesota Vikings. He agreed to rejoin the Seahawks in June.
Seattle also drafted Reed — during the sixth round in 2023. The safety has been off and on the team’s active roster and practice squad over three seasons.
Reed played five defensive snaps and 29 snaps on special teams in his first appearance for the Seahawks this season.
Seahawks Have Banged Up Secondary for Week 6
The Seahawks just can’t seem to get healthy in the secondary this season.
Witherspoon and Love each played in the season opener. But Witherspoon missed Week 2. The former No. 5 overall pick in 2023, Witherspoon returned for Week 4 but was sidelined again last week with a setback to his knee.
Love played in Week 2 and Week 4. But he missed Week 3 and last weekend’s matchup.
Woolen left Week 5 with his concussion.
Witherspoon and Love could still play during Week 6. But that’s unlikely with each carrying the “doubtful” tag entering Sunday. The Seahawks have already ruled out Woolen, along with edge rusher Derick Hall and offensive tackle Josh Jones.
The Seahawks will kick off against the Jaguars on Sunday at 10 am PT.
Eagles facing a CB2 nightmare their own free agent could have saved them from
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Week 2 of the NFL preseason is a great time to evaluate fringe players for the 53-man roster, and maybe get a few starters some work if they need it.
It’s never a great time to spin the dial at a make or break position like No. 2 cornerback, but that was indeed the case for defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and the Philadelphia Eagles in Saturday’s 22-13 preseason dud to the Cleveland Browns.
The Eagles opened the game with their top two candidates for the starting CB2 job — Kelee Ringo and Adoree Jackson — on the field together. On the next drive, after rookie QB Dillon Gabriel and the Browns marched 13 plays for a touchdown, the recently-acquired Jakorian Bennett entered the game. We saw different combinations throughout, with guys swapping sides of the field, and both Eli Ricks and rookie Mac McWilliams mixing in as well.
The final conclusion? Philly has no clear replacement for Darius Slay Jr. right now, and that, now less than three weeks away from the season opener, is a problem.
The Eagles should be regretting their decision to let CB Isaiah Rodgers walk in free agency
Philadelphia bid farewell to a number of impact starters on last year’s Super Bowl championship roster, and while some were easy to predict — like Josh Sweat and Milton Williams — others were a bit more surprising, like C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Kenneth Gainwell.
Count Rodgers, who joined the Eagles on a one-year deal for that 2024 season, on that latter list.
Based on Philly’s approach to the 2025 league year, there’s only one explanation for the team to let Rodgers walk. The veteran had a multi-year deal on the table from Minnesota, and the Eagles opted to pass on the term of that deal. It does make some sense when you consider the team never signed an outside free agent to more than a one-year deal this offseason.
The problem? Rodgers’ deal with the Vikings was for a modest $11 million over two seasons. He’s costing Minnesota less than $8 million in total guarantees, and he’s been a starting outside cornerback for defensive coordinator Brian Flores since the start of spring OTAs.
Is Rodgers an All-Pro corner in the making? Maybe not. But he was a key depth player for the Eagles who was on the field frequently during their playoff run. Rodgers was firmly ahead of Ringo on last year’s depth chart, and he probably would have been again this summer. While the Eagles mixed and matched on Saturday, Rodgers was resting with Minnesota’s other starters in their preseason game against the Patriots.
The Eagles are already backpedaling on their decision a bit by bringing in Bennett via trade this month. Perhaps he can ascend and take command of the role, but Philly’s decision to gamble on Ringo and pass on a solid (and reasonably priced) veteran is shaping up to be an easy second guess.
