The Seattle Seahawks will be without two key players on offense Sunday, with both wide receiver DK Metcalf and backup running back Zach Charbonnet being listed as inactive against the visiting Arizona Cardinals.
Metcalf has been playing through a rib injury since Week 2, but coach Pete Carroll said Friday that the bigger issue was the hip injury he suffered last week against the Cincinnati Bengals. It caused him to briefly leave that game before returning. He didn’t practice Wednesday or Thursday and was limited Friday.
“DK tried toughing it out this week. Unfortunately, he just couldn’t go,” general manager John Schneider told Seattle Sports 710 AM on Sunday.
Metcalf has not missed a game since entering the NFL as a second-round pick in 2019 — a streak of 71 games. His inactive status Sunday caps an eventful week in which he made headlines for saying he won’t change his style of play amid mounting scrutiny over his ongoing penalty problem.
Metcalf was penalized for unnecessary roughness in Seattle’s loss to Cincinnati last week, and he was fined $16,391 by the NFL. It marked his fifth penalty of the season and the 10th time in his career he has been flagged for either unnecessary roughness, taunting, unsportsmanlike conduct or disqualification — the most of any player since he entered the NFL.
He has 22 catches for a team-high 337 yards and two touchdowns this season.
During a team meeting Monday, coach Pete Carroll showed the team a leaderboard of penalties, with Metcalf’s name at the top in order to underscore the importance of curbing the issue.
“I’m a competitive person, so I’m not going to shy away because he put a penalty board on the screen,” Metcalf said Wednesday. “I’m just going to continue to be me.”
Charbonnet, the team’s second-round draft pick in April, did not practice this week because of a hamstring injury.
“He can feel it and he’s a running back, so it makes a difference in that spot,” Carroll said Thursday.
DeeJay Dallas is expected to serve as Seattle’s No. 2 running back behind Kenneth Walker III on Sunday.
Seattle is also without two starters on the offensive line: center Evan Brown and right guard Phil Haynes. Rookies Olu Oluwatimi and Anthony Bradford are likely to start in their place.
ESPN’s Brady Henderson contributed to this report.
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