RENTON -- Doug Baldwin has missed just two games in his eight-year career with the Seattle Seahawks. However, an injury to his MCL in his right knee, which has been reported as a Grade 2 sprain, will likely force Seattle to play without its No. 1 receiver for at least the next couple of weeks.
Tyler Lockett played all but one snap of last week's season opener against the Denver Broncos as Seattle's offense tried to compensate for the absence of its top playmaker.
"Doug is the guy that we use on third downs in the slot and to do all the stuff that he does, and obviously we didn’t perform well on third down and we didn’t respond as well as we’d like to without him. He’s been a key player there for a long time so it did affect us," head coach Pete Carroll said on Monday.
To illustrate that point, Seattle converted just 2-of-12 third down opportunities against the Broncos, which led to stalled drives and just 55 plays run compared to the 72 run by Denver.
"We were 2 for 12 on third down," Carroll said. "We messed it up. We didn't give ourselves a chance to convert. Really there was five third-and-5 or less that we needed to get every one of those and we didn't."
The Seahawks promoted Keenan Reynolds from the practice squad to help take some of the workload with Baldwin likely to miss some time.
"I got a lot of work in while Doug was getting right before the season and I definitely feel comfortable in that role in the slot," Reynolds said. "I did a lot of it in the spring as well so I feel like for me it's just continuing to do what I've been doing in practice and just try to transfer it over to the game."
Reynolds filled in for Baldwin for most of training camp as Baldwin was resting a sore left knee. He became an obvious choice to be called up to the 53-man roster due to Baldwin's injury.
Reynolds - a former quarterback at the Naval Academy and current member of the Navy Reserves - was converted to wide receiver after being drafted in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens. He spent one week on the team's active roster at the end of the 2016 season but was released during final cuts the following year. After spending time on the practice squad of the Washington Redskins last season, he signed with Seattle this offseason and ended up on the practice squad after roster cuts.
"It feels great to actually be able to go out and play and be a part of it, be in a middle of the action. And on Monday Night Football too, so I'm pretty excited," Reynolds said.
Lockett and Brandon Marshall carried the load against the Broncos at the receiver position. Lockett caught a 51-yard touchdown from Russell Wilson and Marshall added a 20-yard score in his first game in nearly a year. Tight end Will Dissly led the way with three catches for 105 yards and a touchdown.
Reynolds said it took most of his first year in the NFL with the Ravens to begin to feel comfortable playing as a receiver.
Reynolds is still a member of the Navy, serving in the reserves. He said Thursday that he was originally scheduled to have drills with his unit stationed in Nashville this weekend. However, the Navy is quite aware of Reynolds' occupation and is working with him to accommodate his schedule.
"I've been in contact with (my unit) trying to figure out a way to work from out here," Reynolds said. "... I'm going to reschedule most of them to after the season so I can just get them done in bulk. I'm going to have to do a bunch of days of active duty in the offseason as well. The offseason being so long and having my free time allows me to get everything I need to get done."
Report: Seahawks signing former Eagles, Browns LB Mychal Kendricks:
The Seahawks are signing former Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns linebacker Mychal Kendricks, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com.
Kendricks was reportedly visiting the Seahawks on Thursday.
The addition of Kendricks makes sense for football reasons but is at least curious due to legal issues.
Kendricks pleaded guilty last week to insider trading and is scheduled to be sentenced in January. He admitted that he was given information about multiple companies that were about to be acquired by bigger companies. That information led to his turning a profit of over $1.2 million on stock purchases.
Kendricks faces jail time over the guilty plea. The Browns released him after Kendricks admitted to the offenses in late August.
From an on-field standpoint, the addition of Kendricks is certainly understandable. K.J. Wright is likely to miss another game due to knee surgery the final week of the preseason. Meanwhile, Bobby Wagner did not practice on Wednesday due to a groin injury.
With Shaquem Griffin and Austin Calitro struggling at times in their Seahawks' debuts Sunday in Denver, the addition of a veteran option is certainly an understandable course of action.
Kendricks is expected to play Monday against the Bears, per Schefter. However, that's assuming the NFL doesn't try to impose league discipline on Kendricks for his guilty plea. While the league has mechanisms in place regarding drug offenses, violent crimes and DUIs, financial crimes aren't exactly the normal legal issues encountered by NFL players.
Injury Report:
Photo Credit: MINNEAPOLIS, MN - AUGUST 24: Keenan Reynolds #85 of the Seattle Seahawks congratulates teammate Chris Carson #32 on scoring a touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings during the second quarter in the preseason game on August 24, 2018 at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)