Marshawn Lynch To Have Hernia Surgery — Could Miss A Month


Seattle Seahawks star running back Marshawn Lynch could miss up to a month with an abdominal injury, according to a report from Fox Sports. A source also told ESPN that he’ll need a couple of weeks to see if he can recover after visiting core-muscle specialist Dr. William Meyers in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Myers is a renowned surgeon who has performed over 20,000 sports hernia procedures since the 1980s on athletes such as Donovan McNabb, Grant Hill, and Justin Verlander.

Lynch’s durability has not been an issue in Seattle, missing just one game due to injury in the five seasons prior to this one. He has rushed for 417 yards in seven games this year, to go along with three touchdowns. His 3.8 yards per carry ranks 37th in the National Football League, and is his lowest average since the 2010 season, his first with the Seahawks.

Marshawn Lynch Set to Play San Francisco 49ers in 2nd Half
[Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images]
Despite initially suffering the injury in practice before the team’s Week 10 game vs the Arizona Cardinals, Marshawn Lynch still started the game in what ended up being a 39-32 defeat. Lynch carried the ball just eight times, however, despite being on the field for 79 percent of the team’s offensive snaps. “Beast Mode” was then questionable leading up to last week’s tilt against the San Francisco 49ers, before being declared inactive during pre-game warm-ups.

The Seahawks prevailed against their division rivals without their star workhorse, thanks in large part to backup Thomas Rawls. Rawls, an undrafted rookie free agent out of Central Michigan, finished with a career day, toting the ball 30 times for 209 yards and reaching the end zone twice. Rawls should continue to see the lion’s share of the carries with Lynch on the shelf, with hopes of maintaining his NFL-best 5.98 yards per carry.

Marshawn Lynch On Bike on Seahawks' Sideline
[Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images]
No running back carried the ball more than Marshawn Lynch between 2011-14, whose number was called 1,181 times in that span. Lynch missed two games earlier in the season due to myriad injuries, including hamstring, neck, and calf ailments. The Seahawks went 1-1 in those games, with Rawls accounting for 217 yards on 40 carries and a score. Seattle now sits at 5-5, three games behind NFC West-leading Arizona, and a game out of the NFC Wild Card picture. The Seahawks fall behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the current standings by virtue of the Bucs’ better win percentage in conference games. No NFC team has ever appeared in three consecutive Super Bowls, something the Seahawks could accomplish as they get set to play their final six games of the season. Three of their final five games will pit Seattle against opponents with losing records, including the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, and St. Louis Rams. The Seahawks will host the Pittsburgh Steelers this Sunday, and travel to Minnesota for a Week 13 showdown with the 7-3 Vikings.

The two-time defending NFC champs should be able to weather the storm without Marshawn Lynch thanks to Rawls’ ability to carry the load, but Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is hopeful No. 24 will be in his huddle soon. “To have one of the best running backs in the game makes my job a little bit easier, to have him out there making plays,” Wilson said. “He’s a difference-maker for sure.”

Fred Jackson will serve as Rawls’ backup during Lynch’s absence, and the team has also signed veteran Bryce Brown, according to Fox Sports’ Mike Garafolo’s Twitter account. To make room on the 53-man roster, the Seahawks placed linebacker Nick Moody on injured reserve. This marks Brown’s second stint with Seattle this month, though he did not play in either the Dallas Cowboys or Cardinals games.

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