RENTON, Wash. -- The Seattle Seahawks have taken another significant personnel hit as they head into the playoffs. This one is to starting linebacker Mychal Kendricks, whose season is over due to a torn ACL he suffered Sunday night.
Coach Pete Carroll confirmed Kendricks' status Monday and said wide receiver Jaron Brown also has a knee injury from Seattle's loss to the 49ers that will keep him out for "a couple weeks." Carroll is optimistic free safety Quandre Diggs will be back for Seattle's wild-card game at Philadelphia.
Kendricks went down after playing seven defensive snaps Sunday night. It's the second straight year that his season ended early due to a knee injury. He finishes with 71 tackles (fourth most on the team), three sacks and an interception.
Carroll volunteered that he'd like to have the 29-year-old Kendricks back next year. He's scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent at season's end after playing on his second consecutive one-year deal. But his availability isn't a given as he heads toward sentencing and potential prison time in his insider trading case.
Carroll's defense typically subs out its strong-side linebacker in nickel situations, but the Seahawks played more snaps in their base personnel than any other team this season, which meant keeping Kendricks on the field.
"I really like the way he plays," Carroll said. "I like what Mychal brings us. He's a very active player. He's an unusually instinctive, athletic guy for the position. That's why we played him so much against three wides. He runs 4.4s, so he's a real fast linebacker. I hope that we'll get him back and get him back with us."
Rookie third-round pick Cody Barton replaced Kendricks on Sunday night and will start in his absence.
"Cody did alright," Carroll said. "He did a solid job. I'm hesitant to say he played great because he missed a couple opportunities there. But he's a good football player for us. Get him a whole week of starting and all the reps and stuff and he'll do a nice job for us. He's very able to play well for us."
Diggs missed the last two games with a high ankle sprain.
"Because the workout went so well yesterday, trainers are saying he looks like he has a really good chance to play this week," Carroll said. "We think he'll have a chance to practice Wednesday, and we'll know a lot more when we get him Thursday after he practices. But good positive signs from the training room."
Acquired in a trade with the Detroit Lions before the deadline, Diggs was responsible for four takeaways in his first four starts with Seattle. One of his three interceptions was a 55-yard pick-six of Jared Goff in Week 14. His addition into the back end of their defense allowed the Seahawks to play more Cover 3 with Diggs as the lone deep safety. Lano Hill has started the past two games. "His experience, his savvy, his confidence, it has an effect," Carroll said of Diggs. "So I'm thrilled to get back out there if that's the case. We need him. We need everything we can get."
Brown's injury could necessitate an addition at wide receiver. Carroll said the team is discussing that possibility, and that it will depend on Malik Turner's status. Turner missed the 49ers game with a concussion and has not been cleared to return. That leaves Seattle with four healthy wide receivers: Tyler Lockett, DK Metcalf, David Moore and rookie John Ursua, who caught his first NFL pass Sunday night on a fourth-and-10 play that got Seattle to San Francisco's 1-yard line in the game's final minute.
The injuries to Kendricks and Brown follow a brutal one-week stretch that included suspensions to wideout Josh Gordon and defensive tackle Al Woods, followed by season-ending injuries to running backs Chris Carson and C.J. Prosise. There was also the news that left tackle Duane Brown needed surgery that will likely sideline him for at least another week.
Rookie Travis Homer started at tailback Sunday night and finished with 92 yards on 15 touches. He played 50 of Seattle's 75 offensive snaps compared to 23 for Marshawn Lynch, who carried 12 times for 34 yards and a touchdown. Lynch, whom Seattle brought back last week along with Robert Turbin, hadn't played since October 2018.
"He came out of the game very healthy, at least today he is," Carroll said. "He contributed, so that gives us a really good one-two punch with he and Homer running the football in the playoffs. Last week, we didn't know where we were going to be, but we feel like we have style and a way to go about it. So that's a positive coming out of this game and moving forward."