Is Kenneth Walker III playing today? Latest updates for Seahawks star

People on social media can be ruthless. Almost as soon as the Seattle Seahawks announced on Saturday that running back Kenneth Walker III was downgraded to questionable due to illness, persons (bots?) on X/Twitter said that maybe Walker wasn't sick but "hungover." See, Walker's birthday is on October 20.

Here are the flaws in that silly attempt at logic. First, Walker's birthday wasn't on Saturday but on Sunday. The game is early enough - kickoff is at 10 am PT - for him to celebrate when he gets back to Seattle. Also, the team is not going to allow Walker to simply stay out partying on what would have been Friday since his illness was reported on Saturday.

The team flew to Atlanta on Friday. so Walker would have had to immediately get off the plane and find the nearest bar. That would not have happened.

Seahawks running back a game-time decision due to illness in Week 7

The other issue is that social media trolls are calling into question Walker's integrity. In their view, he would rather think of himself than the team. The truth is that Walker probably doesn't want to feel sick, especially so close to a game and his birthday.

But let's discuss what 12s truly care about. Will Walker get to play against the Falcons or not? Being downgraded to questionable does not mean he is out; only that the Seahawks didn't know how he would feel on Sunday. He is most likely a game-time decision. We also should hope that whatever he has is not contagious so that other players get his illness, which affects their play. Still, players missing a game to illness is rare, so there is a likelihood that Walker does play.

Walker has already missed time this season with an oblique injury. The offense simply doesn't run as well without him. He has also been mostly terrific in the second halves of games when given the ball enough to make an impact (see: five rushes total against the New York Giants in Week 5. Walker is averaging 4.6 yards a carry and has five rushing touchdowns in four games.

Update: Walker is not listed among the Seahawks inactives in Week 7 so he should be expected to play.

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