Mike Macdonald expressed cautious optimism when talking about rookie guard Grey Zabel’s knee injury Monday morning on his weekly appearance on Seattle Sports 710AM.
Later in the day, with more test results available, the news was still positive for Zabel. It’s possible that Zabel, Seattle’s first-round pick, will miss some time due to the knee injury he suffered late in Sunday’s loss to the Rams, but the injury is not a significant one that will keep him out long-term.
“Really fortunate,” Macdonald said Monday afternoon. “We avoided a significant injury, which is really positive. The words I heard were day-to-day. You know how that goes, it could be day-to-day it could be a week, could be more than that. But nothing significant, which is a huge positive.”
With Zabel leaving the game, the Seahawks turned to second-year guard Christian Haynes for the final drive of the game, Hayne’s first game action of the season after he missed the first nine games on injured reserve due to a pectoral injury.
Zabel was the second starting lineman to leave the game with an injury in as many weeks after the Seahawks were able to use the same starting five in each of their first nine games. Last week, center Jalen Sundell exited Seattle’s win over the Cardinals that caused him to be placed on injured reserve, with the hope being that he will return this season. Macdonald was pleased with what he saw from Olu Oluwatimi starting in Sundell’s place, and from Haynes when he came in late in the game.