Seattle Seahawks could miss two more starters on OL

Seattle Seahawks center Max Unger (60) and guard Lemuel Jeanpierre (61) wait for the snap against the San Francisco 49ers during the second quarter at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

The Seattle Seahawks are already hurting on the offensive line with star, but oft-injured, left tackle Russell Okung on the short-term injured reserve, and they could be missing two more starters for Sunday’s big game against the Houston Texans. J.J. Watt is one of the game’s most talented players, and he was a monster against the run and delivered some consistent pressure on the Baltimore Ravens last week. Playing with a hobbled offensive line against the Texans is never easy, so this quote below from Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll means that Russell Wilson could be in for another day of scrambling a la Week 1 against the Carolina Panthers.

Carroll said, via SB Nation’s Field Gulls, “We are banged up, and we’ve got some guys that are going to have a hard time making it this week, particularly we haven’t been able to get Breno Giacomini or Max Unger back, full-go, on the practice field. So, we’re going to have some guys step up – we’ll always be about the guys that step in and not about the guys that can’t go, so we’ll see how Lem (Lemuel Jeanpierre) does at center, and we’re kind of fired up to see how Michael Bowie does if he gets the chance to play at tackle. He’s been coming along strong, so that’s kind of how the season goes, those are the issues you face, and hopefully we’ll deal with this very well.”

If the Seahawks miss Max Unger, then they will lose the glue to their offensive line, as Unger is a crucial leader and an even more crucial piece to the Seahawks offensive line as a run blocking unit. Brian Cushing and Joe Mays form a tough ILB duo against the run, so the Seahawks backup will have to step up if Unger is out. Breno Giacomini isn’t the best right tackle around, but you’d hate to see both starting tackles miss a game, which could be the case for Seattle if Giacomini is out. That said, Michael Bowie probably won’t be a significant downgrade at RT, and Russell Wilson is good enough to succeed even if the majority of the offensive line is composed of backups.

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