During the opening drive of Sunday’s eventual loss to the Vikings, Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen was not on the field.
After the game, coach Mike Macdonald explained that Woolen was benched for violating an unspecified rule.
“That was just a team ruleMacdonald said, via Brady Henderson of ESPN.com. “We made amends and that’s what we decided to do, what was best for the team, and we’ll move on.”
Woolen was replaced in the starting lineup by Josh Jobe, an undrafted 2022 rookie who was promoted to Seattle’s active roster last month. On the drive that Woolen missed, the Vikings drove 70 yards on 12 plays for a touchdown.
During post-match media availability, Woolen tested the limits of a competition rule by refusing to answer media questions, with one exception. That one media member did not ask Woolen about the bench.
The violation of team rules could have resulted from Woolen’s response to public criticism from Macdonald after a less-than-stellar performance in a home loss to the Packers.
Macdonald said at the time that it “wasn’t Riq’s best game”, and that he needed to concentrate more on each game.
“[T]There’s only a few plays a game right now where we want more from him, and he knows that,” Macdonald said after the Week 15 game. “He’s the first one to tell you.”
“I don’t care anymore,” Woolen said in response. ‘I really don’t care. I mean, if you do it right, they’ll love you. If you do poorly, they will talk about you.”
Woolen was involved in the decisive game against the Vikings. Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson got past double coverage of Woolen below and safety Julian Love above. Love simply didn’t arrive in time to disrupt the 39-yard touchdown reception.
