Settle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll hinted during his press conference Wednesday morning that the neck injury suffered by backup center Lemuel Jeanpierre may be potentially serious.
That notion was confirmed Wednesday afternoon as the team placed Jeanpierre on injured reserve.
Jeanpierre had been sidelined for the last week or so due to the injury. He did not participate in the team’s preseason finale against the Oakland Raiders last Thursday night.
“We’ll find out in a little bit,” Carroll said during his Wednesday morning press conference when asked about Jeanpierre’s status. “Let you know a little bit later.”
The move is a blow to Seattle’s offensive line depth. Jeanpierre is a very solid center and guard option that has played well in his prior opportunities. The team will now have to turn to Stephen Schilling to serve as their backup center.
“Steve had a great camp for us playing guard and center for us,” Carroll said. “We’re ready to go with [him] this week. We know that he can play. He did a great job this camp.”
In Jeanpierre’s place, the team re-signed receiver Phil Bates to their active roster. He was released in favor of receiver Bryan Walters on Monday. Seattle now has eight receivers on their active roster.
Seattle made some changes to their practice squad. The team signed guards David Arkin and Drew Nowak, and linebacker Allen Bradford to their practice squad and release guard Nate Isles, receiver Chris Matthews and safety Terrance Parks.