For the opening drive of Sunday’s eventual loss to the Vikings, Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen wasn’t on the field.
After the game, coach Mike Macdonald explained that Woolen was benched for violating an unspecified rule.
“That was just a team rule thing,” Macdonald said, via Brady Henderson of ESPN.com. “We made it right and that’s what we decided to do, what was best for the team, and we’ll move forward.”
Woolen was replaced in the starting lineup by Josh Jobe, an undrafted rookie in 2022 who was promoted to the Seattle active roster last month. On the drive Woolen missed, the Vikings drove 70 yards on 12 plays for a touchdown.
During the postgame media availability, Woolen tested the limits of a league rule by refusing to answer questions from the media, with a single exception. That one media member did not ask Woolen about the benching.
The team-rule violation might have flowed from Woolen’s reaction to public criticism from Macdonald after a not-great performance in a home loss to the Packers.
Macdonald said at the time that it “wasn’t Riq’s best game,” and that he needs to have better focus on each and every play.
"[T]here are just a couple of plays right now per game where we want more from him, and he knows that,” Macdonald said after the Week 15 contest. “He’s the first one to tell you.”
“I don’t give a shit anymore,” Woolen said in response. “I really don’t care. I mean, when you do good, they gonna love you. When you do bad, they gonna talk about you.”
Woolen was in on the game-deciding play against the Vikings. Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson got past double coverage from Woolen underneath and safety Julian Love over the top. Love simply didn’t get over in time to disrupt the 39-yard touchdown reception.
