Ernest Jones Active For Seahawks, Will Face Former Team in Week 9

While Ernest Jones will suit up and start for the Seahawks, Christian Haynes won't be playing after losing the starting right guard job this week.

Oct 27, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Buffalo Bills running back James Cook (4) rushes for a touchdown against Seattle Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV (13) during the fourth quarter at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Despite being listed as questionable with a neck injury on Friday, Ernest Jones will suit up for the Seattle Seahawks and face his former team with the Los Angeles Rams in town for a Week 9 contest at Lumen Field.

Jones, who Seattle acquired from Tennessee in exchange for linebacker Jerome Baker and a 2025 fourth-round pick, will start at middle linebacker alongside Tyrel Dodson. He's coming off a team debut where he recorded 15 combined tackles in a 31-10 loss to Buffalo after only getting two practices under his belt leading up to the game.

Even after not practicing on Friday for precautionary reasons, coach Mike Macdonald indicated earlier in the week that Jones should be much more comfortable in a new scheme with more practice reps. Adding in the fact that the team that originally traded him to the Titans in August will be on the other sideline, it shouldn't be a surprise that he's ready to roll on Sunday.

"This guy's a stud," Macdonald said of Jones. "We will fit some things a little bit differently now that he kind of knows how we play stuff. But he's a fun guy to be around talking football and working through things and we're really excited that he's here and expect him to make another jump this week."

While Jones will start in the middle of Macdonald's defense, as announced on Friday, the Seahawks will be without star receiver DK Metcalf and tight end Noah Fant. Metcalf didn't practice this week and will miss his second straight game with an MCL sprain in his knee, while Fant suffered a pulled groin in practice earlier this week.

With Metcalf out, Seattle elevated veteran receiver Cody White from the practice squad on Sunday. No additional moves were made at tight end, as Pharaoh Brown, AJ Barner, and Brady Russell will handle duties on offense and special teams.

Along the offensive line, rookie guard Christian Haynes will be inactive for the first time this season after losing the full-time starting job to Anthony Bradford earlier this week. He wasn't on the injury report on Friday, so he will be held out as a healthy scratch, leaving minimal depth in the interior with fellow rookie Sataoa Laumea also in street clothes.

On defense, after elevating Josh Jobe for the third straight week, the Seahawks deactivated rookie Nehemiah Pritchett. Though the fifth-round pick missed last week's game with an ankle injury and was limited in practice during the week, he wasn't on the team's final injury report, so this appears to be a healthy scratch favoring Jobe instead.

Up front, veteran defensive end Myles Adams and outside linebacker Trevis Gipson will be inactive for the third straight game as healthy scratches. The addition of Roy Robertson-Harris via trade last month has left the two players on the wrong end of a numbers game to be active on game day.

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