RENTON, Wash. - Working as a scout team player on Seattle's practice squad just a week ago, Kyle Williams is now likely to get the start at left tackle on Sunday when the Seahawks entertain Arizona in a key NFC West matchup.
With Walter Jones, Sean Locklear and now Brandon Frye out with injuries, Seattle is down to its "plan D" at the most important position on the offensive line -- protecting the backside of quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.
Williams didn't get any playing time last year until Seattle's season was already in the tank and would be making only his third career start this weekend against the defending NFC champs. "This game actually means something," Williams said.
It's been a nonstop shell game for Seattle coach Jim Mora ever since his first day of training camp when projected left guard Mike Wahle failed his physical and retired.
Since then, Jones has undergone a second surgery on his left knee, Locklear suffered a high-ankle sprain in Week 2, guard Rob Sims has suffered oblique and ankle injuries and center Chris Spencer missed the first two games with a quadriceps injury.
That's left names like Williams, Frye, Steve Vallos and Mansfield Wrotto filling critical spots no one ever expected.
"To handle, to weather the storm the way they have, to lose probably the best left tackle in football and just keep on going and hold the fort down for him and the other guys we've lost is really impressive," Hasselbeck said. "We probably need to tell those guys a little more we appreciate them because they've done a heck of a job."
Williams is the latest to get his shot at left tackle, a position the Seahawks counted on Jones to fill without problem until last season, when Jones needed microfracture surgery on his ailing left knee.
Last year when Williams started Seattle's final two games, he was just the fifth player to start at left tackle since the Seahawks drafted Jones in 1997.
Locklear was drafted in 2004 as the heir apparent at left tackle, but has struggled to stay healthy as well.
Frye was cut by Miami before the season and pulled off the waiver scrap heap and thrust into the spot when Locklear went down with an ankle injury against San Francisco. Frye played well, until a neck stinger early in last Sunday's game against Jacksonville landed him on injured reserve.
Even Williams caught a little of the left tackle injury bug. Williams had his left knee caved in during a special teams play Sunday and had to play through the knee sprain because no options remained.
"He's a pro. He's expected to do his job," Mora said this week. "We're not dealing with a high school kid here. He knows what it's all about."
Two years ago, Williams was living with his in-laws in Arizona as an out-of-work NFL lineman and looking for any sort of employment.
A day before he was supposed to leave for Las Vegas and start a job in music management, the Seahawks called asking if he wanted a spot on their practice squad.
Williams spent all of 2007 on the practice squad and all of 2008 until being signed to the active roster in late November. His first start, against the New York Jets, came in Mike Holmgren's last home game as Seattle's coach.
Now he's being asked to protect the blindside of Hasselbeck's tender ribs in a game that could get Seattle back to .500 with its bye a week away.
"You're protecting a valuable asset. You're protecting a quarterback. ... So it's certainly significant," Mora said. "But we have a lot of confidence in Kyle. He's been here two years. He went in and played well on Sunday. He will get more repetitions. He's confident. He's played at USC. He's played in big games. He's not going to be intimidated by the atmosphere. He'll do fine."
To add a comment, please register or login.