Field Gulls
The Seattle Seahawks will not have their promising rookie wide receiver for at least the next four weeks.
Fifth-round pick Tory Horton, who is tied with Jaxon Smith-Njigba for the team lead in receiving touchdowns, has been placed on injured reserve as of Saturday. Seattle did not sign anyone to replace him on the 53-man roster, although it’s probably not urgent to do so until after Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans.
Horton scored two touchdowns in Seattle’s 38-14 blowout win over the Washington Commanders back in Week 9, but suffered a shin injury that only became known during Week 10’s practice for the Arizona Cardinals. After several consecutive days without practicing, it became clear that Horton wasn’t particularly close to a return. Mike Macdonald told reporters on Friday that Horton’s shin needed to “calm down.” Well, there will be plenty of time to calm down.
It’s worth noting that Horton won’t be eligible to return until Week 16 against the Los Angeles Rams, but that’s a Thursday night game and Horton cannot practice until after Week 15 versus the Indianapolis Colts. Those practices typically are walkthrough sessions. It seems more than likely he’ll not return in Week 17 at the Carolina Panthers, if at all this regular season.
Perhaps the Horton injury is what really necessitated the Rashid Shaheed trade, and his skill set is badly needed now that the former Colorado State star is out of commission for longer than expected.
In other news, Seattle incidentally elevated Patrick O’Connell and Jamie Sheriff to the active roster from the practice squad, which may be an indicator that Ernest Jones IV may not be available for the Titans game. Jones is questionable with a knee injury and did not practice on Friday.
