It was about as bad a first half as you could have for the Seattle Seahawks, and it just got worse. With time running down towards the end of the first half, on a play where the Seahawks lost a fumble as well, they also may have lost Elijah Arroyo. Going down to dive on the ball, his arm was caught in a scrum and has gotten injured.
He was seen being led into the locker room with team staff holding his forearm, indicating an injury in that area. Not clearly related to the knee injury he had last season that placed him on IR late in the season, but its significance is to be determined. With the score 14-3 and Seattle trying to salvage some points before the half, nothing is going the way of the Seahawks tonight.
A few minutes later, he was declared by the Seahawks to be doubtful to return with a shoulder injury. All things considered, I can only assume he's not coming back today. Seattle has much bigger issues than their second string (at best) tight end, of course, but he remains a playmaker of note even if the team hasn't been able to unlock his abilities and potential yet.
Now What?
The Seahawks actually had four tight ends active for this game anyway, five if you count Brady Russell, so I can't say there will be a massive impact from this. Arroyo is a complete afterthought in this offense for the time being. If anything, adding better blockers like Eric Saubert and Nick Kallerup to the mix might be more beneficial to this current situation.
Seattle needs to find a way to get into better situations on 2nd and 3rd down so they can sustain drives and give Darnold easier throws to convert. Arroyo, in theory, could help with that, but clearly the team hasn't figured that part out yet. And with the distinct possibility that he misses extended time given how quickly he was declared doubtful, that may not change.
Arroyo came into tonight's game having been targetted on only two passes this year, one a 17-yarder from Drew Lock and the other intercepted by the trailing defender. He's seen less than 30% of the total snaps. Eric Saubert has actually been on the field more than Arroyo, and despite his player profile has made more of an impact as a pass catcher. Onward.
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