The Seattle Seahawks have a change on their coaching staff.

Running backs coach Kennedy Polamalu is taking a leave of absence for personal reasons, the team announced Wednesday. In his place, run game specialist/assistant offensive line coach Justin Outten and offensive assistant coach Michael Byrne will assume the RB coach duties.

Geno Smith status in question, and Pete Carroll has his own minor injury

Polamalu, who was a fullback at USC in the 1980s, is in his 33rd year as a coach at the NFL or college level. He joined the Seahawks prior to the 2024 season, taking over the RB coach role after having the same position with the Las Vegas Raiders. He is the uncle of Hall of Fame safety Troy Polamalu.

Outten is in his first year with the Seahawks after coming to the team from the Tennessee Titans. He was offensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos in 2022.

Byrne is also in his first season with Seattle.

Players on the mend

Both center Jalen Sundell and tight end Eric Saubert were designated to return by the Seahawks ahead of practice Wednesday.

Sundell has missed four games on injured reserve with a knee injury, while Saubert has missed six games on IR with a calf issue.

The 26-year-old Sundell was the Seahawks’ starting center this season, but coach Mike Macdonald said “we’ll see” on Monday when asked if he would play center or guard going forward. Olu Oluwatimi has started at center since Sundell’s injury.

A second-year undrafted offensive lineman, Sundell was teammates with rookie Seahawks guard Grey Zabel at North Dakota State.

The 31-year-old Saubert is with his eighth team in nine NFL seasons. He has one catch, a 12-yard touchdown, this season for Seattle.

The Seahawks could be in need of depth at tight end with rookie Elijah Arroyo’s availability in question for Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts due to a knee injury suffered in Seattle’s win in Atlanta last weekend.

Another award

For the third time in the past five weeks, a Seahawks player has won a weekly NFC award.

This time, it’s wide receiver and return man Rashid Shaheed, who has been named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week after returning a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown in the win over the Falcons.

Shaheed’s breakout game is great sign for Seahawks

Shaheed’s return was the longest touchdown of the season in the NFL, the longest kick return since 2015 by a Seahawks player, and the third-longest return touchdown ever by a Seahawk.

RASHID SHAHEED TAKES THE KICK RETURN 100 YARDS ALL THE WAY

SEAvsATL on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/rdIB9a1qK6

— NFL (@NFL) December 7, 2025

The 10-3 Seahawks are tied for first place both in the NFC West and NFC outright. They will host the 8-5 Indianapolis Colts at 1:25 p.m. at Lumen Field on Sunday, with radio coverage starting at 10 a.m. on Seattle Sports with the pregame show.

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