The Seahawks get one key offensive player back in the lineup on Friday against the Chiefs, but they’ll likely be without running back Marshawn Lynch.
Lynch has a back issue that caused him to miss practice on both Tuesday and Wednesday, leaving Danny O’Neil of the Seattle Times to report that it is unlikely that he’ll be in the lineup against Kansas City. There’s no indication of serious worry about a long absence for Lynch, who has looked good in his preseason action this summer, so we’d expect him to be fine for the start of the season until those indications change.
So Russell Wilson won’t have Lynch to help him in his first start, but he will have Sidney Rice. Rice, who has been handled cautiously in his return from shoulder surgeries, will make his preseason debut against the Chiefs. Coach Pete Carroll said that seeing Rice take a hit from safety Earl Thomas in practice helped convince him that the time was right for Rice to get some game action.
“It was great,” Carroll said. “He needed to feel that and know that could happen.”
The fact that he’s getting on the field in preseason is a good sign for Rice. If he makes it through the game without any setbacks, it could be a bad sign for Braylon Edwards and/or Terrell Owens.