RENTON, Wash. – Coming off his first appearance for the Seahawks, Christian Haynes will get the start at left guard for Seattle this weekend against the Tennessee Titans if rookie Grey Zabel isn’t able to recover from a knee injury in time.

Head coach Mike Macdonald confirmed on Wednesday that Haynes would get the nod to make his first career start after playing only in relief during his rookie campaign last season.

“We’ve seen it on our football team, if somebody can’t go for a certain amount of time, whether it’s practice or games, the standard stays the same.” Macdonald said. “We expect you to go in and go rip it for us and he did that. He didn’t bat an eye, and there’s things he’s going to learn from the game, and we’re going to need him to play at a high level if he needs to play this week.”

Zabel didn’t practice on Wednesday due to the left knee injury he sustained late in Seattle’s 21-19 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. While the Seahawks received good news about Zabel’s status, they still might be without him this weekend.

“It was definitely a surreal moment, but just being ready and locked in,” Haynes said of playing on Seattle’s final drive. “That’s what they need me for, to be ready, to be locked in at all times so I was ready to go out there and then go get a game-winning drive going.” 

Haynes missed the first nine games of the season due to a pectoral injury sustained during the team’s joint practice with the Green Bay Packers in mid-August ahead of their preseason matchup.

“I already hurt it once before that and then the joint practice, it got worse,” Haynes said.

Haynes was a right guard in college at the University of Connecticut before becoming a third-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft by Seattle. Haynes has been working at both guard spots, as well as center, during his time with the Seahawks.

“I’ve been playing a lot of left guard, practicing both, and then I played preseason games at left guard. So it wasn’t nothing new to me when I was out there,” Haynes said.

Haynes played ten snaps for Seattle on their final drive of the game as they were able to move to the edge of field goal range for a last-second, game-winning field goal attempt from 61 yards away for Jason Myers.

“It felt good being back out there,” Haynes said. “I felt confident, and I just felt like I go out there and play my best ball I could possibly play. I felt pretty good out there. I felt in my groove. One thing like Coach Mike always says, like, just be loose and focused, and I felt loose and focused out there. Just go out there and block it and play my game.”

Haynes couldn’t crack Seattle’s lineup last season, unable to unseat veterans Laken Tomlinson or Anthony Bradford, and even fellow rookie Sataoa Laumea had better showings when called upon. But Haynes was challenging Bradford for the starting job at right guard in the preseason before his injury put him on the shelf for two months.

“:Faster with everything I’m doing, with my calls, with my steps, and just seeing things faster as a player,” Haynes said. “Just seeing things before it comes and just then being confident every time in everything that I’m doing.”

Notes:

– Nose tackle Johnathan Hankins won’t play this season for the Seahawks due to a back injury that has kept him out all year. Hankins was placed on the non-football injury list prior to the start of training camp and isn’t progressing to the point of being able to play.

“I’ll probably leave it private right now, what’s going on with his health, but yeah, he won’t be with us this year,” Macdonald said.

“The back is tricky. If it’s not working, it’s not a fun situation to be in, so we wish him the best.”

– Rookie defensive end Rylie Mills is getting close to being able to start practicing with the team. Mills, a fifth-round pick out of Notre Dame in April, has been recovering from an ACL injury in his right knee sustained last December.

“I think we’re getting within a couple weeks now of him starting to practice,” Macdonald said.

Mills would need multiple weeks of practice to get up to speed as he hasn’t been on a football field since college, but he’s getting close to becoming an option.

– Guard Grey Zabel, wide receiver Tory Horton, linebacker Tyrice Knight, and fullback Robbie Ouzts were the four players that did not participate in practice on Wednesday.

Knight sustained a concussion on Sunday, and Horton is still working back from a shin injury that’s kept him out the last two games.

“Some other guys limited that we’re taking care of with reps, but those are the guys that won’t practice,” Macdonald said.

While Ouzts is dealing with an elbow injury, his absence was for non-injury reasons.

Macdonald said Horton’s chances of playing this week will come down to if his shin injury improves in the coming days.

“We’ll see. Really just a matter of calming down, so it could happen tonight, it could happen, not tonight,” Macdonald said.

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