Sydney Rice Headed to IR

The Seahawks have not made it official yet, but wide receiver Sydney Rice is going to be placed on injured reserve today. Rice suffered his 2nd concussion in 2 weeks on Sunday. He was expected to be out 2-4 weeks, but that was before team doctors had a chance to evaluate the severity of the concussion.

Because this concussion was the 2nd one in just 2 weeks, the league’s protocol calls for the team and player to act very conservatively. Rice was likely to be held out longer than he normally would have. It would appear that after the initial evaluation done today, the doctors believed that Rice was more likely going to be out 4 weeks, and not just 2. Since there are only 5 weeks left in the season, placing Rice on IR was the logical choice.

Rice has also been dealing with a Labrum tear in his shoulder, an injury than can be played through but will require off-season surgery, as well as knee and hip injuries.

Losing Rice definitely hurts the offense. While rookie Doug Baldwin has more catches and yards, it is Rice that routinely draws double teams from opposing defenses. Expect Ben Obomanu to start in place of Rice, and Golden Tate to get increased playing time as well.

To fill the slot on the 53 man roster, LB Mike Morgan will be promoted to the practice squad.