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Here are a handful of takeaways from a costly 30-3 loss.
The Seattle Seahawks lost more than just a meaningless preseason game to the Denver Broncos tonight. A couple of players went down with potentially serious injuries, as well.
Here are a handful of takeaways from a costly 30-3 loss.
No matter what the final score is, the story from tonight’s Seahawks game is going to be injuries.
No matter what the final score is, the story from tonight’s Seahawks game is going to be injuries.
Before the first snap, linebacker Ben Burr-Kirven had to be carted off the field after suffering a leg injury on the opening kickoff.
Now, another Seattle player is done for the evening. Wide receiver John Ursua also has a leg injury and had to be carted off, as well.
Cart coming out for Ursua now. Second time tonight, which obviously is terrible in any game let alone a preseason game.
— John Boyle (@johnpboyle) August 22, 2021
To make things even better, receiver Aaron Fuller took a shot to the ribs on the same play and had to be checked out in the medical tent.
Denver leads 14-0 at the two-minute warning.
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Sometimes the preseason is just terrible.
Sometimes the preseason is just terrible. The Seattle Seahawks have already seen the worst of it this evening.
Linebacker Ben Burr-Kirven played very well last week against the Raiders, but he’s already been knocked out of the game – and probably longer. He was injured on the opening kickoff against the Broncos and had to be carted off the field. On the broadcast it’s been described as a left knee injury. He has been ruled out to return tonight.
.@Seahawks injury update: LB Ben Burr-Kirven is Out (knee).
— Seahawks PR (@seahawksPR) August 22, 2021
Burr-Kirven is entering his third year in the league. In 32 games he’s totaled 16 tackles, mostly seeing action on special teams. Just awful.
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Football is finally back!
Football is finally back! After six long months following the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ dominant victory in Super Bowl LV, fans are out of the sports wilderness and back on their couches watching their favorite teams.
The 12th Man is no different, as they have gotten their first glimpse of the Seahawks on the field since the Wild Card round last season. Unfortunately, the 12s will have to wait a little longer to see another Seahawks victory as Seattle dropped their preseason opener to the Las Vegas Raiders 20-7.
With a 13-point loss, how can there be more Studs than Duds this week? Because the preseason – especially the first week – is less about wins and losses, as much as it is looking at individual performances.
In the end, there isn’t a whole lot of substance – for good or ill – one can reasonably take away from the first exhibition game of the year for the sake of season forecasting. As a result, here is who stood out in Preseason Week 1.
Seattle Seahawks linebacker Ben Burr-Kirven said that he will head into the 2021 season with the mindset that he will be a starter.
Surrounded by veteran stud linebacker Bobby Wagner and young up-and-comer Jordyn Brooks, Seattle Seahawks linebacker Ben Burr-Kirven heads into the 2021 season with uncertainty.
Most of Burr-Kirven’s playing time has been on special teams. However, he is treating this offseason like he will be a starter on the field in September.
“I think you still approach it like you are going to be a starter,’’ Burr-Kirven said. “And that’s what everybody has to do because the reality of the game we play is you’re always one play away from being in the game. I think that’s the only way to do it. If you have that mindset that ‘Oh, I’m a backup’ then you are not going to prepare the way you need to.’’
Indeed, injuries are common in the NFL, and players must always be prepared to be thrust into action even when they least expect it.
Burr-Kirven expressed his reverence for Wagner and former Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright, stating that they showed him what it takes to excel at the professional level beyond the basics.
“Everybody knows how to play football if you make it this far,” he continued. “You know how to study tape and all that. But there is so much from the recovery aspect, time management. Having Bobby and K.J. when I came in kind of opened my eyes to know there is so much more to being a football player than coming out and practicing hard and watching film.’’
Burr-Kirven will likely spend most of his third year in the NFL on special teams, but he could see the field on defense more frequently if complications arise.
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Seattle Seahawks linebacker Ben Burr-Kirven will honor Breonna Taylor with his helmet decal that the players are adopting for 2020.
The Seattle Seahawks will honor victims of racial injustice by American police by wearing decals on their helmets for the 2020 season. Several players are each honoring a different Black American who has been subject to racial injustice. Linebacker Ben Burr-Kirven told Seahawks.com that he will pay tribute to Breonna Taylor, one of the more prominent victims in the news.
“When somebody gets shot asleep in their house on a no-knock warrant, something has to change,” Burr-Kirven said. “The way the news cycle works, it’s easy for things to fall out of the news and for people to forget. And you can’t forget what happened, you have to make something change, so the best way to keep this in the news and keep people paying attention is to put in a place where millions of people are going to see it every weekend when we play.”
The Seahawks will play the Falcons in Atlanta on September 13 at 10:00 a.m. PT if all proceeds as planned.
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Seattle Seahawks linebacker and former Washington Huskies star Ben Burr-Kirven will need to prove his worth on special teams in 2020.
The Seattle Seahawks are heading into the 2020 season with their two longest tenured defensive players, Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright, reprising their roles as starting linebackers.
With Mychal Kendricks no longer in the fold, the SAM linebacker position is up for grabs in a competition between rookie Jordyn Brooks, a first round pick in 2020, as well as Cody Barton, a third rounder in 2019 who looked good in brief action last season.
Of course, with coach Pete Carroll, it’s never that simple. Bruce Irvin, who the team signed early on in free agency, is expected to play some SAM on early downs, before transitioning to a defensive end/pass rushing role in third down situations.
Seattle could also slide Wright, who is expected to be fully recovered from offseason shoulder surgery by Week 1, over to the SAM role, allowing Brooks to play his more natural WILL position in his first NFL season.
Plus, after staying in their 4-3 base defense nearly 70% of the time last year, often leading to poor results, the Seahawks could opt to play nickel a lot more in 2020, especially if they like what they see out of Ugo Amadi in training camp.
All this leads to a myriad of questions about Seattle’s defensive setup, including what will happen to the team’s other linebacker, Ben Burr-Kirven, a fifth round pick in 2019 out of the University of Washington.
Burr-Kirven joined the Seahawks as a tackling machine, having led the entire NCAA in tackles in 2018 with the Huskies. He was always seen as a developmental linebacker who would cut his teeth on the special teams in year one, and that’s exactly how things went down.
BBK appeared in all 16 games for the Seahawks in 2019, racking up eight combined tackles and forcing one fumble on 310 total snaps – 306 which occurred on special teams.
The odds of him stepping into a bigger role on defense in year two got a lot slimmer with the additions of Irvin and Brooks.
And, since he’s unlikely to go the route of Shaquem Griffin and develop into an undersized pass rusher – that’s just not his game – he is currently on the outside looking in for regular snaps on defense.
Of course, coach Pete Carroll loves his core special teamers, and while there’s not room for many on the active roster, it does seem hard to imagine the team cutting someone who appeared in all 16 games last year, and was a part of 66% of the team’s special teams snaps.
BBK will have to prove he’s one of the most valuable, if not the most valuable, special teamer on the roster if he wants to find himself in a Seahawks uniform for the duration of the 2020 campaign.
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Seattle Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner is prepared to help Jordyn Brooks and the rest of the team’s young players develop.
The Seattle Seahawks took two linebackers in the 2019 NFL draft, Cody Barton and Ben Burr-Kirven, despite having an elite trio of starters in veterans Bobby Wagner, K.J. Wright and Mychal Kendricks.
They followed that up by using their first round pick in 2020 to take yet another linebacker, Jordyn Brooks, which certainly raised some eyebrows in the Emerald City.
Despite adding a handful of youngsters who are capable of playing middle linebacker, Bobby Wagner, who turns 30 this offseason, is not concerned about his job security, and is instead taking on an active role in helping the young players, including Brooks, succeed.
“If you all go back and listen to what I’ve said over the years, I’ve always been wanting to give away knowledge to anybody that comes and asks for the knowledge,” Wagner told Seattle media members earlier this week. “At the end of the day this is bigger than just football to me. This is young men getting a chance live out their dream and provide for their family. That’s how I see it. I don’t really see it the way everybody else sees it. I’m not going to sit here and just not speak to him or whatever. I want him to be as successful as possible, I want him to do as great as possible and I’m excited to have him. I think it’s going to be really fun.”
Brooks is expected to compete at weakside linebacker right away, which could push Wright into the SAM role vacated by Kendricks this offseason. That may not leave much room for Barton, who impressed in his brief time as a starter last year, although he will likely be a big factor on the special teams.
Wright also had offseason shoulder surgery, which could be part of the reason the team went with Brooks. If Wright is forced to miss any time, the team will have enough depth to replace him.
Wagner and Wright are the two longest tenured members of the Seahawks’ defense, and they are both well aware of their responsibilities not just on the field, but as leaders to the young players who come through – regardless of what position they play.
“I think as an older player, I want to see the guys do better from every aspect, whether it’s on the field and off the field,” Wagner continued. “Players come in and they don’t leave with what they came in with. I’ve seen it firsthand. And so if I can help players come in and leave with more than they came with, than I feel like I did a good job of leading.”
The Seahawks are hoping to get back on the field for training camp, which is set to begin in late July.
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After taking Will Dissly in 2018 and Ben Burr-Kirven in 2019, will the Seattle Seahawks select someone from UW again in the 2020 NFL draft?
For a long time, the Seattle Seahawks did not select players from nearby University of Washington in the NFL draft.
Then, a few years into the Chris Petersen era out on Montlake, the Huskies started churning out quality NFL talent – and Pete Carroll and his squad got in on the action.
The Seahawks have been thrilled with the performance of Will Dissly, a 2018 fourth round pick who began his career at UW at defensive end but transitioned to tight end for his final few years.
Dissly was joined by another teammate, linebacker Ben Burr-Kirven, who the Seahawks nabbed in the fifth round in 2019.
While BBK was a reserve linebacker and core special teamer last season, the Seahawks view him as a key piece for the future and have been very happy with their two recent UW draft picks.
The question now is if Seattle will target anyone else from UW for the 2020 draft. While there are plenty of talented players from Washington expected to go in the first few rounds, the two most notable players (tight end Hunter Bryant and quarterback Jacob Eason) don’t play positions of need for the Seahawks, leaving them with fewer options to choose from.
However, there are still three players the Seahawks could pursue, including a pair of offensive linemen and a defensive back that all could be good fits for Carroll and company.
Seattle Seahawks rookie linebacker Cody Barton suffered a pair of injuries on Sunday night, and is having an MRI done on his knee.
The Seattle Seahawks saw their already thin linebacker group take another hit on Sunday night against the Los Angeles Rams.
Starting in place of Mychal Kendricks (hamstring), rookie Cody Barton suffered both a knee and ankle injury and is scheduled to have an MRI on Monday, according to coach Pete Carroll.
“He strained his knee a little bit and [had] a little bit of an ankle thing,” Carroll said on 710 ESPN’s Pete Carroll show. “We gotta figure that out. He’s gonna get an MRI today to find out where he is. He was able to go back in the game, tough as nails and finished it, but I don’t know.”
Barton had a big role on Sunday, appearing on 58 defensive snaps (83 percent) as well as 16 snaps on the special teams. He came out after getting hurt in the fourth quarter but returned after just a few plays, apparently playing through the knee strain.
He finished with four combined tackles and one pass defended.
Barton’s health will be a big factor this week, as Kendricks may not make it back in time for Sunday’s game against the Panthers. Additionally, WILL linebacker K.J. Wright suffered a dislocated finger on Sunday, although Carroll expects him to be fine by next week.
If neither Kendricks or Barton are able to play, expect fellow rookie Ben Burr-Kirven to step into a starting role on defense.
Seattle could also opt to use their nickel package – which only requires two linebackers – a lot more as well.
Check back throughout the week for updates on Seattle’s injuries before they head South to take on the Panthers in their final road game of the season.
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