Seattle's rushing attack will hinge on Zach Charbonnet for a second straight week.
Running back Kenneth Walker III is officially inactive for the Seahawks' critical prime-time tilt against the Packers due to a calf injury.
Despite head coach Mike Macdonald telling reporters Friday that Walker had made progress throughout the week, this was expected, considering the 24-year-old had a doubtful designation after sitting out every practice in preparation for Green Bay.
Walker is currently the team's leading rusher with 542 yards. He's tied with Charbonnet with seven rushing touchdowns and has also contributed a score through the air with his career-high 38 catches and 271 receiving yards.
Still, between two games missed in Weeks 2-3 with an oblique injury, another two-game absence now official and working behind an ineffective offensive line, Walker has had a rough go of it in 2024. He's averaging just 3.7 yards per carry.
Charbonnet met similar struggles in his first game relieving Walker all the way back in Week 2, a narrow victory over the New England Patriots in which he managed just 38 yards on 14 totes (2.71 yards per carry). In two more games as the featured starter since then, though, the second-year back has broken out.
He had his career-best game sans Walker in Week 3 versus the Miami Dolphins with 91 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries, then last Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals matched that TD total and re-broke his personal rushing record with 134 yards on 22 attempts (6.09 YPC).
Clearly, hope of a balanced offensive attack is not at all lost for the Seahawks as they seek a win over Green Bay to stay a game clear of the Rams in the NFC West.
Sitting at 8-5, good for the third seed in the conference, Seattle has Los Angeles (8-6) breathing down its neck after the Rams' Thursday night victory over the 49ers.
A loss would put the Seahawks on equal footing record-wise with the Rams, who they already lost to earlier this season and must travel to face for the regular-season finale.
Exactly what's at stake in that rematch will depend on what the Seahawks do in the three contests preceding it -- starting with Sunday's 8:20 p.m. ET kickoff against the 9-4 Packers.
