Seahawks get Geno Smith back fully on practice field but Jamal Adams, Devon Witherspoon still out

Updated Dec. 20, 2023 8:00 p.m. ET

Associated Press

RENTON, Wash. (AP) — Geno Smith is set to return at quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks this week.

No one seems sure when, or if, Jamal Adams will return this season for the Seahawks.

Smith was a full participant in practice for Seattle on Wednesday, the first step in likely returning to be the starter this Sunday at Tennessee after missing the past two games with a groin injury.

Smith was close to starting on Monday night against Philadelphia, but the Seahawks opted to keep him out for one more game with the hope that he’ll be fully healthy for the final three weeks.

The move decision appeared to work out in Seattle’s favor after backup Drew Lock led the Seahawks to a late touchdown and a 20-17 win over the Eagles that snapped a four-game losing streak and put them in the middle of a jumbled NFC playoff race.

But it’s once again Smith’s job should he make it through the week without any setbacks.

“He’s got to go through today, see how he is tomorrow and just do that like anybody else that’s coming back,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said Wednesday. “But we’re really encouraged that he’s going to be all right, and we won’t overtax him during the week either.”

Smith was terrific the most recent time he started, throwing for 334 yards and three touchdowns, with another rushing touchdown, in Seattle’s 41-35 loss to Dallas on Nov. 30.

While Smith seems set to return, the situation with Adams remains cloudy and uncertain. Carroll said on his radio show on Tuesday that Adams didn’t play against the Eagles because of lingering pain and discomfort in his knee as he continues to try and come back from a torn quadriceps tendon suffered at the start of the 2022 season.

A day later, Carroll was more pessimistic about Adams’ status for this week.

“He’s still in recovery mode. He’s been in recovery mode for months,” Carroll said. “He just continues to do everything he can possibly to do to try to get right and get back."

When asked if there had been discussions about possibly shutting Adams down for the season, Carroll acknowledged that has been mentioned.

“We kind of don’t talk about that, but it’s been something that we have acknowledged and that’s a decision,” Carroll said. “So far, he’s wanted to keep going and driving and see what he can make of it.”

Adams returned from the major leg injury in Week 4 and played in six straight games before sitting out the Week 11 loss at the Los Angeles Rams. He played nearly every snap the following three weeks in a pair of losses to San Francisco and a loss at Dallas, before missing the win over Dallas.

Seattle’s other major injury concern is rookie cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who could miss his second straight game this week. Witherspoon suffered a hip pointer early in the Week 14 loss at San Francisco and didn’t play against the Eagles.

“He’s moving around better just getting around the building, but we don’t know what’s going to happen during the week with him, so we’ll just have to take it one day at a time,” Carroll said.

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