By Mazvita Maraire Posted on

Ken Walker III ruled out for Cardinals game

The Seahawks’ struggling run game suffered a massive blow Saturday afternoon when the team announced that leading rusher  Ken Walker III would not participate in Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals due to a calf injury. Rookie undrafted free agent  George Holani was elevated from practice to provide depth at the running back position. Holani will join Zach Charbonnet, the likely starter, and Ken McIntosh. Walker leads the team in rushing with 542 yards and seven touchdowns on 145 attempts.

DEALING WITH SEVERAL INJURIES

Walker participated in limited practice on Wednesday and then missed the team’s Thursday and Friday practices. After Friday’s practice, Walker III was listed as doubtful for the Cardinals game, and head coach Mike Macdonald was unsure of Walker’s availability.

 “ Wish I could tell you, I just don’t know right now. We’ll talk about plans on how we want to operate going into the weekend if we’ve got to make any moves or if we want to take it up to the game on Sunday. We’re just not sure right now, said Macdonald.

Macdonald confirmed that Walker was dealing with two separate injuries and that if he was  unable to play, George Holani would be an option.

OPPORTUNITY FOR MCINTOSH AND HOLANI

Zach Charbonnet has been used as the counter punch to Walker, with most of his opportunities coming in short-yardage and red-zone situations.  With Walker out, Charbonnet will start. The second-year back from UCLA has  266 yards on 75 carried and five touchdowns. Charbonnet’s best game this season was in  Week Three against the  Miami Dolphins; he had 18 carries for 91 yards and two touchdowns.

McIntosh has carried the ball four times for 16 this season and has been used primarily as a special teams player. It has been a disappointing two years for McIntosh, who led the Georgia Bulldogs to a back-to-back championship. Injuries and opportunities have limited his playing time. McIntosh suffered a knee injury during training camp and saw action in just three games in his rookie season. Holoni has spent the season on the practice squad and has no regular season carries.

TWO MORE ROSTERS BEFORE SUNDAY S GAME

In addition to elevating Holani to the game-day roster, the Seahawks also elevated punter Ty Zentner. Last week, Michael Dickson had a back spasm during the Seahawks’ win over the Jets. During the week, the team signed Zentner to the practice squad in case Dickson could not play. Dickson was limited in practice on Wednesday and Thursday and a full participant on Friday. 

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