1. Love and Reed are ready to return.
With Love and Reed coming back, the Seahawks will be as close to full strength on defense as they have been since early in their season-opener. The Seahawks will have to make moves to get both players back on the 53-man roster by Saturday afternoon, but they currently have two openings on the roster to fit those two if that is indeed the plan.
“J-Reed should be good to go, which is exciting,” Macdonald said. “Julian is planning on playing, and we’re going to play it accordingly. We have a plan, we’ll see how the game goes, but excited to have those guys back.”
Asked if Love, who is coming back from a hamstring injury that has limited him to three games this season, will be on a pitch count, so to speak, Macdonald said, “We have a plan. We’re going to stick to our plan.”
With Reed, Macdonald said the veteran defensive tackle will “just be in the rotation.”
While both players have dealt with setbacks to their injuries that kept them out longer than hoped, Reed and Love have been a positive presence around the team during while unable to play.
“Both are different circumstances, and both were unfortunate, so to be able to handle those things and stay optimistic and stay positive with the guys and keep the focus on the team is pretty awesome,” Macdonald said. “We love them for it. You hate that they have to go through those type of things, but the team, we’re better because of how they handled the whole situation. We’re really appreciative for what they’ve done.”