The Seattle Seahawks placed veteran defensive tackle Jarran Reed on injured reserve Saturday, which was a surprising move given that he’d practiced all week and didn’t carry a game status designation on Friday.
Head coach Mike Macdonald and general manager John Schneider have since provided some clarity on the situation.
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Reed hurt his wrist in Seattle’s Week 7 win over the Houston Texans on Oct. 20 and had surgery to repair it during the team’s Week 8 bye. He then returned for the Week 9 matchup against the Washington Commanders, but played just 17 snaps and suffered what Macdonald called a “setback” during the game.
Reed was a full participant in practice last week, but was still experiencing pain. The 32-year-old veteran then underwent further imaging, which revealed that he’d need another surgery. At that point, the Seahawks placed him on IR.
“I mean, look, this just tells you how tough this guy is,” Macdonald said after Seattle’s blowout win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. “I mean, he’s like an all-time physically tough player, mentally, all the above. Comes back in two weeks and plays after basically breaking something in his hand or wrist.
“And we thought it was good to go. We thought it was ready. But we had a setback in the (Washington) game. And it just tells you how tough he is. He was just thinking throughout (last) week, like, shoot, my hand’s sore. And so we got it re-imaged, and it turns out he’s gotta have another operation.”
By landing on IR, Reed is required to miss at least four games. That means the earliest he could return would be Seattle’s Week 14 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons on Dec. 7.
During his weekly conversation Monday morning on Seattle Sports, Macdonald said the Seahawks anticipate Reed can return later this season.
“It’s gonna take some time, … but yeah, I think we’ll see J-Reed by the end of the year,” Macdonald said.
Reed has been a stalwart in the middle of Seattle’s standout defensive line, recording 1.5 sacks, one tackle for loss and six quarterback hits in eight games this season. He has 40 sacks and 42 tackles for loss over his 10-year career, including 35 sacks and 35 tackles for loss over his eight seasons in Seattle.
“That’s one of the toughest individuals you’re gonna meet,” Schneider said during Seattle Sports’ pregame show on Sunday. “We’ve known that over the years. He had a procedure a couple weeks ago. It didn’t take as well as we had hoped for. He sucked it up and played last week, and unfortunately didn’t make it for this game, and we had to make the (IR) transaction.
“But this guy is gonna be one of our team leaders as we finish the season here.”
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