The Seattle Seahawks’ running game has spent the first month of the season without the two backs who carried it through last year’s Super Bowl run. Kenneth Walker III left in free agency, and Zach Charbonnet opened the year on the reserve/physically unable to perform list while recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
The vacancy has left a rotation of younger and less established runners to handle the load through the first three weeks.
That attention sharpened Wednesday, when coach Mike Macdonald left open the chance that the club would open Charbonnet’s practice window as soon as Thursday. By Thursday morning, the team had made the decision.
Sleeper NFL reported Thursday that “Seahawks RB Zach Charbonnet has been designated to return to practice.”
The designation lets the fourth-year back take part in football activities without counting against the 53-man roster. It also starts a 21-day window. At the end of that period, Seattle must either activate him or keep him on the PUP list for the rest of the season.
Charbonnet still must sit out one more game before he is eligible to come off the list, so he will not be available Sunday. The practice designation only allows him to begin the final stage of his ramp-up.
He tore the ACL in Seattle’s divisional-round win over the San Francisco 49ers on Jan. 17 and had surgery on Feb. 20. Because he remained on PUP through final roster cuts, league rules required him to miss at least the first four games.
Macdonald had called the recovery an aggressive timetable. Speaking Wednesday, he said, “He’s doing a great job and he’s in a great position mentally.” He added that the choice involved “how many practices they need, roster spots and things like that,” and cited limited practice chances in the coming Denver week.
Last regular season, Charbonnet rushed for 730 yards on 184 carries, averaging 4.0 yards per attempt, and led the Seahawks with 12 rushing touchdowns. The scoring total was a career high and the most by a Seattle back since Marshawn Lynch reached double digits in 2014.
He shared the backfield with Walker, later named Super Bowl MVP after signing with the Kansas City Chiefs. Charbonnet supplied a steadier inside-zone option while Walker created the longer gains.
Without both backs, Seattle has used rookie Jadarian Price, Emanuel Wilson and George Holani. Earlier in the season the club ranked ninth in the league in rushing at 129.5 yards per game, but no clear featured role has settled.
The 21-day window gives the Seahawks time to judge how Charbonnet looks in team periods before committing a roster spot. Macdonald has said the club will not rush an activation simply because the window is open.
For now, the designation is the clearest sign that Charbonnet’s return has moved from rehab onto the practice field, with a possible game appearance once he clears the games still required on the PUP list.
