Ethan Pocic Returns to IR, Seahawks Promote Kyle Fuller

Pocic dressed for two games after being reinstated from injured reserve and now won’t be eligible to play in the postseason, hurting Seattle’s depth in the interior offensive line.

An injury-plagued season has officially come to an end for Seahawks lineman Ethan Pocic.

As reported by Brady Henderson of ESPN, Seattle has placed Pocic back on injured reserve due to a core injury that caused him to be inactive in the season finale against San Francisco. To replace him on the depth chart, the team promoted guard/center Kyle Fuller from the practice squad.

The Seahawks are putting OL Ethan Pocic back on IR and are promoting G/C Kyle Fuller from their practice squad. Pocic recently came off IR and was inactive Sunday after being listed on the injury report with a core injury.

— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) December 31, 2019

The Seahawks haven’t had much injury luck in 2019 and nothing illustrates this issue more than the fact that Pocic and tight end Ed Dickson were designated for return from injured reserve and played a grand total of two games. Both players wound up reverting back to injured reserve and won’t be eligible to play in the playoffs.

Pocic, 24, opened the season as Seattle’s starter at left guard replacing an injured Mike Iupati. After missing several games with a back injury, the team placed him on injured reserve before a Week 6 matchup in Cleveland and he eventually returned to provide much-needed depth at center and guard in Week 15.

Unfortunately, after playing 18 snaps in place of Iupati against the Cardinals two weeks ago, Pocic was limited at practice last week and listed as questionable to play against the 49ers. The team opted to hold him out and with the injury not showing any improvement, his season will come to an end after dressing for just four games.

Following two disappointing injury-riddled seasons, the versatile Pocic will now enter the final year of his rookie contract likely battling to hang onto a roster spot, as he hasn’t proven himself capable of staying healthy and has struggled since showing promise in 11 starts as a rookie.

With Pocic done for the year, Fuller will be competing against Jordan Roos for backup duty behind starter Joey Hunt at the center position gearing up for Sunday’s playoff game in Philadelphia.

Fuller has spent the entire 2019 season on Seattle’s practice squad and offers prior NFL starting experience. The former seventh-round pick out of Baylor appeared in nine games with two starts for Houston as a rookie in 2017 and played in two games for Washington last year.