The Seattle Seahawks are heading into the final regular season game of the year with a relatively clean bill of health. Only two players, left tackle Duane Brown and receiver Malik Turner, have officially been ruled out against San Francisco.
Turner sustained a concussion in Week 16 against the Cardinals and was unable to participate in practice at all this week.
Rookie receiver John Ursua is expected to fill Turner’s spot on the active roster, and should get some time on the field after spending most of the year on the inactive list.
“Johnny [Ursua] is looking great,” coach Pete Carroll said on Friday. “He’s been battling. He’s ready. He jumped in a couple weeks ago and dressed with us. He’s ready to go. It’s been good for him to know all throughout the week that he was going to get the call. So, he’s fit in. We love the stuff that he does. He’ll be in the game.”
Fans have been clamoring for a bigger role for Ursua, a seventh round pick who lead the NCAA in touchdowns his senior year at Hawaii, but so far he has been unable to crack the rotation for Seattle.
However, Turner only averages about 17 offensive snaps a game, instead doing most of his work on the special teams. Plus, Jaron Brown and David Moore are both healthy and active, making it tough to see a big role for Ursua in the passing game.
The likely scenario has Ursua playing special teams in place of Turner, and possibly handling a small percentage of snaps on offense for the Seahawks, who are looking to sweep the 49ers and win the NFC West in what should be one of the most exciting games of the season on Sunday night.
