The Seahawks are bringing quarterback Jaren Hall up from the practice squad for Sunday’s game against the Jets.
Hall was a Vikings fifth-round pick in 2023 and he signed with the Seahawks in September. This is the first time that he has been called up to the active roster, but he made a pair of starts for Minnesota during his rookie season.
Hall was 13-of-20 for 168 yards in three overall appearances.
Neither Geno Smith nor Sam Howell is dealing with an injury, which may mean Hall is being called up as a reward for his practice work.
The Seahawks are also elevating safety Ty Okada. Okada has been called up two other times and the Seahawks listed safety AJ Finley as questionable to play.
Seahawks wide receivers DK Metcalf (shoulder) and Tyler Lockett (knee) returned to full participation in Friday’s practice. Neither player has a designation for Sunday.
Metcalf and Lockett missed the first two practice days this week.
Metcalf has 46 receptions for 697 yards and three touchdowns, and Lockett 38 receptions for 495 yards and two.
Every player on the roster practiced Friday.
Defensive end Leonard Williams (foot), tight end Brady Russell (foot), offensive tackle Abraham Lucas (knee) and nose tackle Jonathan Hankins (rest) also returned to practice Friday.
The only players with an injury designation are Russell and Finley.
Running back Breece Hall returned to full practice participation on Friday, but the Jets aren’t ready to guarantee he’ll be playing against the Seahawks on Sunday.
Hall is listed as questionable for the game. He missed practice on Wednesday and he was limited on Thursday due to a knee injury.
Safety Chuck Clark (shin) is also listed as questionable after being added to the report as a limited participant on Friday.
Linebacker C.J. Mosley (neck) had two full practices this week as he tries to make his return to the lineup. He’s listed as questionable along with offensive linemen Jake Hanson (hamstring) and Xavier Newman (concussion).
Left tackle Tyron Smith (neck) has been ruled out and interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich said this week that he may be headed for injured reserve.
Week 17 features eight standalone games. And the NFL will have some big decisions to make regarding how to configure the games that can be shifted from one window to another.
The first big decision is due today. If Seahawks at Bears will be dumped from Thursday Night Football, today’s the day to do it.
While the rule is 28 days, the devil in the details comes from the counting. If Friday is Day One, then Day 28 is the day of the Week 17 Thursday night game. (Case in point: The Week 16 Thursday night game between the Browns and Bengals was swapped out for Broncos-Chargers last Friday.)
The problem for the league in Week 17 comes from the lack of options. Complicating matters is the presence of more than a few non-contenders.
Week 17 starts on Wednesday, with two Christmas games: Chiefs-Steelers, Ravens-Texans. (Netflix got lucky in the scheduling; here’s hoping it gets lucky in the execution.) On Thursday, it’s Seahawks-Bears (for now). On Saturday, three games will be peeled away from five Sunday possibilities, to be played as a Saturday tripleheader. The five potential games for the shift to Saturday are Broncos-Bengals, Cardinals-Rams, Chargers-Patriots, Colts-Giants, and Falcons-Commanders.
On Sunday night, the Dolphins visit the Browns. Week 17 ends with Lions at 49ers.
If the NFL moves Seahawks-Bears out of Thursday night, which game will go there? Packers-Vikings (a presumptive candidate for Thursday night and Sunday night) can’t be moved away from Fox, because Vikings-Packers was televised by CBS. It’s a strange quirk of the recent minimization of the traditional Sunday afternoon lines; for all home-and-home division rivalries, at least one of the two games must be televised by the network associated with the corresponding conference.
That’s why, for example, the Week 11 game between the Ravens and Steelers wasn’t moved to Sunday night. Because the rematch will be televised on Saturday, December 21 by Fox, the other game had to be televised by CBS.
So, at most, Packers-Vikings would replace Cowboys-Eagles at 4:25 p.m. ET on Fox, with Cowboys-Eagles moving to 1:00 p.m. ET.
With both the Bears and Dolphins losing on Thanksgiving, Seahawks-Bears and Dolphins-Browns become even less attractive for Week 17.
Of the potential replacements for either night, Falcons-Commanders makes the most sense for a prime-time flex. But that only covers one of the two Week 17 evening windows.
The problem for the NFL is that, as to Thursday night, the decision has to be made today. That could result in Falcons-Commanders being regarded as a bird in the hand for Thursday night, with the league then monitoring the next three weekends (Week 13, Week 14, Week 15) before deciding which game would go to Sunday night in Week 17. Frankly, however, Cardinals-Rams seems to be the only option with a chance for both teams to be relevant.
Regardless of how it all plays out (and the first big clue comes today), this is an example of what can happen when expanded standalone windows happen at the end of a regular season that features too many have-nots.
The bye week came at the perfect time for Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
For the first time since Week 4, Rodgers is off the team’s injury report. Which means his ankle, knee, and hamstring injuries have healed — at least to the point where he’s not getting treatment.
With six games left, the question is whether he’ll stay healthy and, if/when injuries pop up again, whether he’ll land on injured reserve. At 3-8, they likely have to run the table to have a shot at making the playoffs. Even then, there’s no guarantee they’ll pick off a team like the Broncos or Chargers.
Not practicing on Wednesday were running back Breece Hall (knee), tackle Tyron Smith (neck), receiver Malachi Corley (illness), and cornerback Quan’tez Stiggers (personal).
Limited were tackle Morgan Moses (knee), offensive lineman Jake Hanson (hamstring), and offensive lineman Xavier Newman-Johnson (concussion).
Full participants were linebacker C.J. Mosley (neck), cornerback D.J. Reed (back), and guard Alijah Vera-Tucker (ankle). Mosley has missed the last four games, and he has played in only four games this season.
