Seattle Seahawks fullback Nick Bellore exited Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles with a quad injury, and it looks like the veteran might be out for Monday night’s game against the Minnesota Vikings.
“Nick’s not able to practice right now,” coach Pete Carroll confirmed on Wednesday. “He’s got a pretty good quad injury. We’re gonna wait a little bit on him.”
Bellore does most of his work on the special teams for Seattle, having only been targeted once on the season, which went for a 20-yard gain.
However, Bellore is Seattle’s only fullback, and if he is unable to play in Week 13 the team will either have to play without a fullback, or find someone else who can play the position.
Carroll indicated on Wednesday that, if Bellore is out, they do have a backup plan at fullback. However, he didn’t want to divulge any secrets as to what that plan might be.
“You’re gonna have to wait and see on that one,” Carroll said. “Why would we tell them now?”
Seattle could certainly opt to use one of their tight ends, potentially Luke Willson if he’s healthy, at that spot. Additionally, while none of their running backs have the prototypical build and skill set to play in that role, Carroll could certainly get creative and utilize someone like Travis Homer if need be.
Lastly, the team doesn’t use fullbacks on too many offensive sets as it is, so they could opt to just go without if Bellore has to sit out.
Regardless of what the team opts to do, it’s clear Carroll won’t make that information available before the game, as a way to maintain his competitive advantage.
