The Seattle Seahawks are preparing for a big-time matchup against one of the AFC’s top teams, with the 5-2 Buffalo Bills coming to town on Sunday.
Unfortunately for Seattle, they are facing the possibility of being without a big-time offensive weapon for the contest. DK Metcalf was carted off the field last Sunday with a knee injury and his status for the Week 8 showdown with Buffalo is up in the air.
What’s the latest on Metcalf’s status?
What Happened to DK Metcalf?
It’s unclear when Metcalf hurt his knee, but it appears the injury occurred late in the third quarter when he landed hard when upended on the sideline.
He was seen trying to test his knee on the sideline, but then he was carted to the locker room.
DK Metcalf carted to the locker room after trying to test out his knee and being examined on the sideline. He’s officially questionable to return pic.twitter.com/ulhorntlCX
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) October 20, 2024
After the game, Seahawks Mike Macdonald told reporters that Metcalf “banged his knee a little bit,” and added that the team is optimistic that “it doesn’t look too bad.”
However, on Monday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Metcalf suffered a Grade 1 MCL sprain and he’ll be considered week-to-week. Considering the alternatives, this is good news for Seahawks fans and Metcalf’s fantasy managers.
When will DK Metcalf Practice This Week?
The injury to Metcalf is one of those good news / bad news situations.
The bad news is Seattle used a cart to transport him to the bowels of the stadium for further evaluation. Further bad news surfaced on Wednesday when The Athletic’s Michael-Shawn Dugar noted that Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald shared that Metcalf would not practice on Wednesday or Thursday.
The good news, though, is that Metcalf hasn’t been ruled out as of yet, and that, as Dugar also noted, Macdonald said the team would re-evaluate him Friday and would be open to taking the decision all the way up to gameday before making the decision.
Wins are hard to come by and division races are heating up with the halfway point of the season approaching. All of that factors into Metcalf and Seattle pushing to get the No. 1 WR back in the lineup.
There is also a long play to consider for Seattle, though. After Sunday’s game against Buffalo, there is only one more contest before a Week 10 bye. That means sitting Metcalf these next two weeks would give the knee a full month to recover and increase the chances the star receiver is near 100% for the final stretch of the regular season.
Potential Fantasy Fallout From Metcalf’s Injury
Metcalf has scored or earned double-digit targets in five of his past six games, establishing himself as a clear alpha by any measure.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Tyler Lockett have essentially split the WR2 role, though the second-year receiver has had the greater spike performances and owns the more encouraging advanced résumé.
Should Metcalf miss time, Smith-Njigba’s status ticks up to that of a low-end WR2, while Lockett still profiles as a hit-and-miss option.
Geno Smith would move from the streamer territory to essentially unusable in anything but the most desperate of situations.