Conspiracy theory Monday: Did the Seattle Seahawks simply bench DK Metcalf in Week 7?

The Seattle Seahawks defeated the Arizona Cardinals in Week 7 20-10 but Seattle did so without the help of receiver DK Metcalf. Metcalf missed the game with hip and rib injuries. Or so we were told, right? What if there was another true reason Metcalf didn't play?

And, by the way, I understand there will be lots of people who only see the title of this article on social media and don't read the actual article who call the social media post "stupid" or worse, or me "stupid" or worse. I tried to help, too, by adding the words "conspiracy theory" in the title. While I can be very much an idiot a lot of the time, I didn't come up with the idea of DK Metcalf missing Week 7 for some other reason than being injured. For instance, on Seattle Sports 710 AM on Monday morning, the topic was one of the first things host Mike Salk brought up.

People, including a well-known radio host in Seattle, are asking the question: Was Metcalf injured so much that he couldn't play in Week 7, or did the team hold him out partly as discipline for him picking up another bad 15-yard penalty in Week 6?

What is really going on between the Seattle Seahawks and DK Metcalf?

Or even worse, maybe Metcalf simply didn't want to play that much after getting a lot of dislike directed at him on social media for getting his fifth 15-yard penalty since 2020 (leading the league) that he just decided to keep himself out. Metcalf did want to explain that he is just going to keep being himself, after all.

It didn't help that head coach Pete Carroll appeared over-the-top post-game in reacting to a question about Metcalf not being available. The question was simply how close Metcalf was to playing. Part of Carroll's response was, "...don't for a second think that Metcalf's looking for a way out of this thing." Maybe Metcalf is very happy to be in Seattle, but there is also no doubt that Carroll's reaction was odd.

Metcalf injured his ribs in Week 2 and played through the pain. He then hurt his hip in Week 6 and had to leave the game, but he did come back in to play. That Metcalf played through the rib pain and then played after hurting his hip but then didn't play the following week while missing that game also corresponds with picking up another penalty is odd, too, right?

To be clear, I am not saying DK Metcalf missed Week 7 because he 1) didn't want to play, 2) Seattle held him out for disciplinary reasons, or 3) he was in too much pain to play against a Cardinals team that Seattle should be able to defeat without Metcalf. I don't know DK Metcalf as most of us don't. I trust that Metcalf simply was too hurt to play.

But the question has been bandied about publicly whether there is simply an issue between Metcalf and the Seahawks. I hope there isn't and I doubt there is. But one never really knows until it's too late and the trade deadline is coming up, of course.

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