Tarvaris Jackson Injury: Seahawks QB Looks Awful in Relief Appearance vs. Bengals

Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

It was a roller coaster ride of a day for Seattle Seahawks QB Tarvaris Jackson.

He woke up this morning expecting to start. He had practiced on Friday and had been cleared medically to play after suffering a strained pectoral muscle back on Oct. 9th.

Jackson warmed up before the game looking like he would be the guy, but instead it was Charlie Whitehurst that started. It was an odd decision that confused plenty of people. If Jackson was able to practice and warm up…why wouldn’t he start?

After another stink bomb performance from Whitehurst (4-of-7 52 yards), Pete Carroll was forced to toss the less than 100-percent Jackson into the game. On paper his numbers were pretty solid, (21-for-40 323 yards and an INT) but he could never get the big play when his team needed it.

He overthrew his receivers, made the wrong reads and could only get the ball into the end zone once—yet he still looked scores better than Whitehurst.

Late in the fourth quarter Jackson was drilled by Bengals defensive end Frostee Rucker, and he landed squarely on his shoulder.

He was able to finish the game, but threw a pick-six that was the nail in the coffin for the Seahawks. It didn’t look like he was effected by the pectoral injury, but it’s likely he’ll be questionable for next week’s game against the Cowboys.

Jackson is clearly the best QB on the team…but that’s not saying much. He doesn’t make big plays and he seems to struggle with in-game adjustments, something rookie Andy Dalton thrived with on Sunday.

The Seahawks are 2-5 and look like they are going nowhere fast in the NFC West. The QB issues have to be addressed through the draft, as they need to hit the reset button.

Until then, the Seahawks are stuck playing out the string with a shaky Jackson under center.