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LANDOVER, MD - NOVEMBER 02: Ernest Jones IV #13 of the Seattle Seahawks heads to the locker room during the first half of the NFL game against the Washington Commanders at Northwest Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Landover, Maryland. (Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)
RENTON, Wash. - Linebacker Ernest Jones IV has been cleared to play for the Seattle Seahawks in Sunday's NFC West clash with the Los Angeles Rams.
Meanwhile, center Jalen Sundell and wide receiver Tory Horton have been ruled out, with both players under consideration to be placed on injured reserve.
Jones missed last week's game against the Arizona Cardinals after injuring his right knee in the team's win over the Washington Commanders two weeks ago. Jones had an offensive lineman fall on the outside of his right leg in the first half of the victory and was unable to play last week.
"I want to be available when my guys are out there rolling," Jones said. "This is a really important game. It's got a lot of meaning to it, but all we're worried about is winning the next game, and they're the team in front of us, so we just got to go out and be dominant."
Jones has started 18 games for Seattle since being acquired in a trade from the Tennessee Titans last season. Drake Thomas and Tyrice Knight played great last week in Jones' absence, but Seattle's surge defensively began last season when Jones joined the roster.
"E.J. is ready if needed, which he is needed," head coach Mike Macdonald said.
Sundell was injured in much the same way Jones was in the win over Arizona on Sunday. Sundell was blocking on a run near the goal line when Calais Campbell fell near his feet and Sundell's leg buckled. He eventually walked off the field under his own power, but was unable to return to the game.
Olu Oluwatimi replaced Sundell for the rest of the game and will make his first start of the season in Sundell's place against the Rams.
"That's a challenging thing to do to hop in in the middle of a game, but it's a part of the job so you've got to be ready to do it," Oluwatimi said.
"I feel good, I feel ready to play ball."
Oluwatimi had a back injury in training camp that essentially nuked his chances of winning the starting job. However, Oluwatimi has shown he can be a solid starter in the NFL, making eight starts for Seattle last season after the midseason retirement of Connor Williams.
"Really excited for Olu," Macdonald said. "Talking about staying ready, and then when this opportunity presented itself, he played some really good football for us, and he was really a catalyst behind a lot of those runs.
"Olu is also a really good player, he's played great football for us, and that's what we're going to need from him."
With Sundell out, the Seahawks will have a different option as their backup center this week. Bryce Cabeldue got a few snaps with quarterback Drew Lock in garbage time of the win over the Cardinals and is available as a backup. Additionally, Christian Haynes is available to be activated from injured reserve, and he saw time at center in training camp as well.
"Bryce would be the next guy. If Christian played, Christian could go," Macdonald confirmed.
A tackle in college at Kansas, Cabeldue had never taken a snap at center in any game prior to Sunday.
"It was really good," Cabeldue said. "Thankfully, the coaches trusted me to put me in at the very end of the game. I've never really played center. I've never taken a snap at center in a game before until then so it was definitely a learning lesson and I'm continuing to try to get better and better."
Haynes has to be activated by Wednesday when his 21-day practice window ends. He's been out all season with a pectoral injury. Adding Haynes in place of Sundell would make a lot of sense if Sundell is moved to injured reserve.
Horton's injury was a bit more curious. He suddenly didn't practice last week due to a shin injury before being ruled out for the Arizona game. Then, after returning to limited participation on Wednesday, Horton was again out on Thursday and has been ruled out for the game against the Rams.
"It's his shin right now, so just working through it," Macdonald said. "Re-imaged it and found some stuff that's going to keep him out for right now, so he's out."
Macdonald said a week ago that Horton's injury didn't surface until they had an actual workout on Thursday after just a walkthrough practice on Wednesday. It appears as though the injury flared up again when Horton tried to work through it this week, which led to sitting him down again.
The addition of Rashid Shaheed last week just happened to be a fortunate byproduct.
"He looks great out there," Macdonald said of Shaheed. "He seems confident, he’s executed at a high level, and the coaches are excited. With Tory being out, it's great that we have him."
Cornerback Josh Jobe is also set to return to action after missing the Arizona game with a concussion.
Injury Report:
The Source: Information in this story came from FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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