Robert Turbin found out less than 10 minutes before kickoff that he was going to be called into duty at fullback for the Seattle Seahawks last week against the St. Louis Rams after starter Derrick Coleman broke a bone in his foot during pregame warm ups.
Despite never having played the position before in his football career, Turbin performed adequately enough that the Seahawks apparently feel comfortable with Turbin leading the way for Marshawn Lynch in Coelman’s absence.
“You’ve got to take your hat off to him,” offensive line coach Tom Cable said Wednesday. “That happens in pregame warm ups, which no one is ready for that. You sit down and start thinking ‘OK, what are we going to do.’ That was the obvious choice. He took the challenge and he did great.”
Seattle did have veteran Greg Jones in for a workout on Tuesday but have apparently elected to stick with the status quo in the meantime.
Turbin says he’s up for the job.
“Absolutely,” Turbin said. “I just want to win. I want to help the team as much as I can. I’m a team guy. If they need me to take on the role for the next few weeks or whatever the case may be, than sure.”
Coleman is expected to miss at least 4-6 weeks due to the broken foot.
The Seahawks may not run as much of their traditional two-back offense with Turbin as their full-time fullback now. Even with the trade of Percy Harvin, the Seahawks have two rookie draft picks in Paul Richardson and Kevin Norwood at receiver they also want to get more involved in their offense. The lack of a traditional fullback could lead Seattle to go with Lynch solo in the backfield more often.