Marshawn Lynch was surprisingly ruled out of Sunday’s playoff game on Friday, but it wasn’t necessarily a team decision.
The Seahawks said in a statement that Lynch “felt like he couldn’t play” after practice on Friday, via ESPN’s Sheil Kapadia, which makes it sound as if Lynch pulled the plug himself.
Coach Pete Carroll’s comments throughout the week support this. On Monday, Carroll said Lynch was “ready to go,” and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said Wednesday that he anticipated Lynch would get a full workload. Even on Friday morning, Carroll believed Lynch would play.
“He’s going to play,” Carroll said on KIRO 97.3 on Friday morning, via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. “And he’s looked really good in practice. He’s practiced as hard as he ever has throughout the week just to prove to himself that he was right, I think, as well as everybody else. So he’s ready to go, and we are anxious to see him fit in.”
Carroll changed his tune after practice, telling reporters that he didn’t know if Lynch would play. A source told ESPN that there was no setback during Friday’s practice, and Condotta said that according to coaches, there was no reason apparent to them that he couldn’t play at full speed in his usual role.
With all this in mind, Kapadia wonders if this is the end of Lynch’s time in Seattle. There have already been reports that the two parties are headed for a split, and with Lynch and his coaches apparently not on the same page, it wouldn’t be a surprise at all at this point.
