The Seattle Seahawks don't have a playoff game this weekend, but other teams will be playing. Seattle gets to rest a bit with a bye week due to being the top seed in the NFC and having home-field advantage. But just as good is the positive injury news the team announced this week.
Instead of losing players just before the postseason begins, Seattle is actually getting healthier. Two players who have missed the last few games are much closer to returning. One is rookie tight end Elijah Arroyo, and the other is left tackle Charles Cross.
Cross hurt his hamstring on the final play of a far-too-close Week 15 game against the Indianapolis Colts. Seattle had to kick a last-minute field goal to win the game. The left tackle missed Weeks 16 through 18, but, thankfully, Josh Jones was pretty good as his temporary replacement.
Seattle Seahawks get Charles Cross and Elijah Arroyo back for practice ahead of the postseason
Arroyo hurt his knee in Week 14 and was placed on injured reserve. He has now had his 21-day window open for return and will practice this week. Hopefully, that gives him enough time to show the team that he is fully healthy and ready to be productive in the postseason.
The Seattle Seahawks could use a bit more versatility in terms of potentially explosive receivers. Jaxon Smith-Njigba should be a First-Team All-Pro after leading the NFL in receiving yards, but he also had 1,200 more yards than any other Seahawks receiver.
In the playoffs, most of the teams will have excellent defenses, and they should be able to slow JSN a bit more. Cooper Kupp, AJ Barner, and Rashid Shaheed are all solid options for quarterback Sam Darnold, but Arroyo's size and speed might add an element that Seattle needs.
Even if Arroyo catches a couple of passes a game, that might be enough to change the outcome of one. He won't be targeted a great deal (he had no more than two in his final six games of the season), but he is capable of making a bigger impact in the postseason than he did in the regular season.
He finished his rookie season with 15 catches, 179 yards, a touchdown, but zero drops. He is 6'5" and 255 pounds, and could be an extremely useful red-zone target for Sam Darnold.
At least one thing is certain for the Seattle Seahawks, and that is one of the best left tackles in the league will return for the postseason. Maybe Seattle won't win a Super Bowl (or maybe they will), but if they don't, injuries are not shaping up to be a reason why.