Quenton Nelson will miss the Seahawks’ Week 9 game and looks likely to be sidelined for a longer period. The recently acquired guard will undergo surgery, Mike Macdonald said Friday.
The All-Pro left guard is listed on Seattle’s injury report with a knee injury; he practiced in a limited capacity Wednesday but did not work out Thursday. Macdonald said (via the Seattle Times’ Bob Condotta) Nelson aggravated an injury he had been dealing with in Indianapolis. He will not land on IR.
This will lead the Seahawks back to their pre-Nelson guard configuration. Grey Zabel, who slid to right guard to accommodate Nelson, is going back to LG, per ESPN.com’s Brady Henderson. Anthony Bradford, who came off IR ahead of Week 7 before the Nelson trade relegated him to second-string duty, will start at his usual RG position.
“[Nelson] had something that he was dealing with when he got here and we re-imaged it and it was aggravated to some degree,” Macdonald said, via Henderson. “We’ve kind of done the due diligence and everybody agrees that it’s best to take care of it now and play the long game.”
Nelson, 30, has been one of the NFL’s most durable players. He has not missed a game since 2021. The ninth-year veteran did not appear on the Indianapolis injury report before being traded, though it is worth wondering if this unspecified issue helped Seattle land the NFL’s most decorated guard (among active players) for third- and fifth-round picks.
More to come.