Seahawks get scare with Jarran Reed’s leg injury

The Seahawks saw Jarran Reed leave the field during Friday’s practice with a leg injury. An already thin position needs some help immediately.

Seahawks general manager John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll know a lot more about football than I do. But like many 12s, I have found it puzzling how Seattle has not addressed a huge need along the defensive line this offseason via free agency. And with Jarran Reed’s injury in practice on Friday, Seattle must find some quality depth at defensive tackle.

Sure, Seattle did sign Bruce Irvin and Benson Mayowa, but those guys are really linebackers in defensive end clothing. Both are much better at pressuring quarterbacks than tackling running backs. Seattle was bad at stopping the run last year and shouldn’t be any better this year on the interior of the defensive line.

Jarran Reed and Poona Ford will be the starters at defensive tackle. But behind them is a lot of uncertainty. Which is why Reed getting hurt is an extremely scary thing. Of course, maybe Reed’s lower-leg injury is nothing serious. But the Seahawks should have seen clearly just how thin their defensive tackle group is when Reed left practice early.

Reed was hurt doing a drill, walked around gingerly after that then went into the locker room and was not seen again. Possibly the Seahawks are just being cautious but a leg injury to any player is worrisome. For a bigger player, like a lineman, who relies so much on leverage, hurting a leg could mean that weeks are missed.

The Seahawks cannot afford for Reed to miss weeks and games. He is the only real threat at providing an interior pass rush and is decent against the run. Ford is good against the run but doesn’t do anything when a team throws the ball.

Get Jarran Reed some help

Seattle needed to sign a quality defensive lineman before the scare of Reed’s injury. But if Reed does have to miss a lot of time, the Seahawks will be forced into signing someone like Damon “Snacks” Harrison, Marcell Dareus or Corey Liuget. Not that signing any of these guys is a bad thing, but you don’t want to have to do it.

Poona Ford also missed time on Friday with a calf injury. His injury does not appear to be serious and he had a calf issue last season he played through. But just imagine a Seahawks world with no Reed and no Ford. Teams could run up the middle all game long with ease.

The extent of Reed’s injury is not yet known. Seattle has the day off from practice on Saturday. On Sunday, 12s should know more about how serious or not-so-serious Reed’s injury is. For the team’s hopes in 2020, let’s hope Reed is fine. But Seattle still needs to find him some help.