Seattle Seahawks rule J.R. Sweezy out
Seattle Seahawks guard J.R. Sweezy (64) during a game against the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jody Gomez-USA TODAY Sports
Seattle Seahawks starting right guard J.R. Sweezy suffered a concussion against the New York Giants in last week’s shutout win, but Sweezy wasn’t aware that he suffered a concussion in that game until he experienced symptoms during practice on Wednesday. It’s another reminder of how difficult concussions are and how important the league’s new concussion policies have been.
Speaking of the league’s concussion policy, 710 ESPN Seattle’s Liz Mathews reports that Sweezy was unable to pass through the league’s mandated concussion protocol tests and will not play tomorrow against the Arizona Cardinals. Pete Carroll and the Seahawks have officially ruled Sweezy out, and it will be interesting to see how they replace one of their starters against a talented Cardinals front seven.
The Seahawks simply could plug Paul McQuistan back in at right guard, or they could move promising rookie Michael Bowie into the starting RG slot. Bowie is a tackle and played well earlier this year (I was very impressed with his game against the Atlanta Falcons), and he also has experience at guard. That said, a rookie OT starting at guard against a quality opponent might not be ideal, so Carroll and the Seahawks have a lot of issues to weigh in; there’s always going to be a trade-off.
There are plenty of options for the Seahawks to replace Sweezy, and it’s possible that they get creative and fall into an option who ends up being better than Sweezy. I think it would also be interesting to see if Alvin Bailey can replace Sweezy at right guard tomorrow, because Bailey is an intriguing player who has looked solid this year and has experience at both guard and tackle.