The Seahawks placed receiver Tory Horton on injured reserve Saturday, meaning he will have to miss the next four games, including Sunday’s matchup at Tennessee.
Horton has missed the last two games with a shin injury. The Seahawks did not fill his spot on the 53-man roster.
Horton, a fifth-round pick out of Colorado State, had five TD receptions and a punt return for a TD in eight games before being injured. Recently acquired Rashid Shaheed has filled his role as the third receiver and punt returner.
The Seahawks also elevated linebackers Patrick O’Connell and Jamie Sheriff from the practice squad for Sunday’s game. The two are needed as depth with Tyrice Knight out with a concussion and Ernest Jones IV is questionable with a knee injury.
Knight was injured making a tackle on a kickoff and was fined $6,406 for illegal use of helmet on the play, it was announced Saturday. Jarran Reed, who sat out the game, was also fined $14,491 for the sportsmanlike conduct.
Macdonald supporting RYR-1 Foundation
This week marks the NFL’s annual My Cause My Cleats weekend when players and coaches wear specially made shoes that represent causes they support.
Macdonald is wearing shoes supporting the RYR-1 Foundation, an organization that supports rare diseases, particularly, muscular dystrophy, Macdonald said.
“My awesome nephew, Lucas, has a form of muscular dystrophy. And he’s doing great, but it’s a great support system,” Macdonald said Friday. “They do a lot of great research, a lot of great awareness. They’re making a lot of progress too, which is exciting. There’s a lot of people, especially young people, that have that disease, and it’s a great community for them, and great support. They’ll hopefully find some great solutions as we go and help them out.
“Proud to wear the shoes, and I love the fact that the NFL does this, gives our players and our staff an opportunity to support causes that we love and want to bring awareness to. It’ll be good, it’ll be exciting.”
Lucas, 9, is the son of Macdonald’s sister, Kate, who lived for a time in Ballard and Kirkland and now resides in Plano, Texas.
The Seahawks listed 32 players as wearing special cleats for Sunday’s game in the ninth year of the program.
Following the game, cleats will be auctioned off with the money going to their causes.
Fans can bid on the cleats at buy.seahawks.com.
Among players wearing cleats is middle linebacker Ernest Jones IV, who is supporting Wings for Ewing Sarcoma. Jones father died in July of the disease, described as a rare bone and soft-tissue cancer.
Macdonald talked about the tough year it has been for Jones on Friday.
“I can’t relate,” he said. “You try to, you try to be there to support them. We’ve had a few guys lose loved ones, particularly fathers this year, and it’s tough. Your heart goes out to these guys. I’m happy that they have a support system here and they feel like this is a place where they like to be and they can be around people that have their backs and can love them up and give them the support they need.
“But Ernest’s done a tremendous job. He’s a passionate guy. He really loves his teammates. He cares about how we play on defense. Takes a lot of pride in his work. I know he wants to make his dad proud, and I think he’s definitely done that.”
Trip revives fond memories
In advance of another trip to Nashville, players and Macdonald this week talked of the positive influence of the team’s trip in Aug. 2024 for two days of joint practices with the Titans before a preseason game with Tennessee.
Former coach Pete Carroll was did not do joint practices during his time with the Seahawks, though interestingly enough he did this year with the Raiders.
So when Macdonald introduced the idea last year it was met with hearty enthusiasm.
“From my experience, I just love joint camps,” said defensive lineman Leonard Williams, who played with the Jets and Giants before coming to Seattle in 2023. “I think it’s one of the best times. Your team has a chance to grow with connection, especially on an away trip like that. We’re all we got, and we’re in enemy territory, competing against another team and in another team’s facilities. You could just feel the energy of people just coming closer together.”
The Nashville trip went so well that the Seahawks did it again this year with a day of practice against Green Bay before a preseason game.
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Each time, the team was able to have a night off for bonding activities following the joint practices, then conducting a light walk-through the next day and then the game, in which few veterans played.
In Nashville, the Seahawks rented out an area of a barbecue joint and included a rookie talent show.
“I think that was that was one of the things that, getting feedback from the guys and a lot of the other people in our organization said that that was, really critical for our team coming together last year, and provided a little bit of a blueprint for us on what we needed to be able to do to become tough and connected like we wanted to this offseason,” Macdonald said. “From my perspective too, it’s, hey, yeah, the football is incredibly important. We’re going to maximize the time allotted to the best of our ability. We like practicing, we like getting a lot of reps, all those things are important.
“But there is a time and a place where you don’t necessarily have to be on the practice field to make your team better. It was a great experience, the guys had a good time, and it was great for us. It’ll be good to be back.”
Bob Condotta: bcondotta@seattletimes.com. Bob Condotta is a sports reporter at The Seattle Times who primarily covers the Seahawks but also dabbles in other sports. He has worked at The Times since 2002, reporting on University of Washington Husky football and basketball for his first 10 years at the paper before switching to the Seahawks in 2013.