The Seattle Seahawks will once again be without SAM linebacker Mychal Kendricks (hamstring) on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.
That means rookie Cody Barton will draw his second start in a row.
Barton recorded four combined tackles and one pass defended on Sunday against the Rams, but struggled with play-recognition and assignments at times, which proved costly.
However, with a full week of experience under his belt, coach Pete Carroll is confident Barton will be more comfortable against the Panthers, and that his play will reflect that.
“I think he’ll feel much more comfortable,” Carroll said on Friday. “We were just fast and furious, and he was busting his tail running around trying to make his plays and all that. I think he’ll be settling in even more so. Like I said to you, he’s such a smart kid and he works so hard. That’s so important to him. He’ll take advantage of one week to the next week. I think you’ll see him improve for a long time now because of the way he applies himself and all that. We’re expecting him to make a little jump and just clean it up and be more specifically accountable and stuff. The running and hitting part, he was fine. It was just the little things on assignments and recognition and things like that.”
Barton was a third round pick out of the University of Utah in the 2019 NFL draft. He played primarily middle linebacker in college, but has acclimated himself to all three linebacker positions for the Seahawks, serving as the team’s primary backup at each position.
While he may still be behind Kendricks in learning how to recognize plays – simply because of lack of experience – his work ethic and natural ability should help him play better this week, which will be important against a Carolina team with plenty of offensive weapons.
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