Seattle Seahawks Rumors: Derrick Coleman Arrest, Suspension Could Force Team To Change Plan For Sunday’s Game


The Seattle Seahawks are rumored to be in a tight spot after Derrick Coleman was arrested on suspicion of hit and run, which could force the team to change the game plan for this weekend’s game.

Coleman was arrested by Bellevue police on investigation of vehicular assault and a hit and run, the Seattle Times reported. The Seahawks wasted no time, announcing within hours that they had suspended Coleman indefinitely while the investigation plays out.

Police claim that Coleman struck another car and may have caused the driver to suffer a broken collarbone. Coleman was arrested shortly afterward and was given a field sobriety test, but there was no information available about the results.

As SB Nation noted, Derrick Coleman gained fame after overcoming long odds to reach the NFL. Coleman has been deaf since the age of 3, and his story was one of the more notable storylines in the buildup to Super Bowl XLVIII. Coleman was highlighted in a commercial for Duracell batteries and this year published a memoir, No Excuses: Growing Up Deaf and Achieving My Super Bowl Dreams.

Coleman has an important role on special teams for the Seattle Seahawks and serves as a blocker for Marshawn Lynch. His arrest and suspension come at a difficult time for the Seattle Seahawks, who are just getting Lynch back from a hamstring injury.

While Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Wednesday that Lynch should be ready to go against the Carolina Panthers, he may not be 100 percent.

“He should be ready to go,” Carroll told reporters (via Pro Football Talk). “We’re going to do the week so that he’ll practice full go tomorrow and Friday. He went through the walk-throughs today, he’s going to run today for conditioning purposes. He looks great, he looks like he’s ready to go.”

The Seahawks looked strong in the running game behind undrafted rookie Thomas Rawls, who had 169 yards in a loss to the Bengals on Sunday, but Lynch has struggled this season. He has just 3.4 yards per carry this season, and that came before the injury that may now be impacting his ability to explode out of the backfield.

But Carroll has already said that Marshawn Lynch will be shouldering the majority of the workload, with Rawls coming in as support.

“I think he’s earned that,” Carroll said of Lynch, “but Thomas will be there for him when Marshawn needs a break. We’ll jump in and be excited to see what Thomas will do too. He’s really made a big statement about how he fits in with our style of play and we’re thrilled about that, so we won’t hesitate. There’s always been a rotation there to some extent, we want to keep Marshawn as fresh as we can and keep him at a really high tempo, so we’ll do that like we’ve done in the past, but Thomas will be the number two.”

The loss of Derrick Coleman could now force the Seattle Seahawks to lessen the load on Marshawn Lynch, especially if he continues to struggle. That could mean a bigger dose of Fred Jackson, the NFL’s oldest running back. Jackson has still looked strong in brief stretches this year and is a threat in the passing game as well.

However the rumors play out for the Seattle Seahawks and their game plan for Sunday, it looks to be a pivotal game. At 2-3, the Seahawks are close to falling out of the playoff race, digging a hole that would require an incredible run in the back half of the season to even get in contention again.

[Picture by Christian Peterson/Getty Images]

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