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Brady HendersonESPN
The Seattle Seahawks are bringing back another one of their former running backs as they work towards a reunion with Marshawn Lynch.
A source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that the team on Monday signed Robert Turbin, who spent his first three seasons with the Seahawks. He fills one of their backfield spots that opened Sunday with Chris Carson and C.J. Prosise suffering season-ending injuries.
Meanwhile, according to Schefter, Lynch was taking his physical with the Seahawks around the same time.
Earlier Monday, coach Pete Carroll confirmed on 710 ESPN Seattle that Lynch was en route to Seattle to meet with the Seahawks. He said the team was going to give Lynch “a really good chance to come back and play for us.”
Lynch spent parts of six seasons with the Seahawks from 2010 to 2015. The five-time Pro Bowler came out of a one-year retirement to play for his hometown team, the Oakland Raiders, in 2017 and 2018.
Lynch has not filed retirement paperwork with the league, but he has not been linked with any team this season.
“He’s been working really hard,” Carroll said. “He’s really excited about the chance to do something helping out, and I think it’s freakin’ great if he could get out there and tote the ball for us. The circumstances rolled just at this time, and he could have four or five games left in him. Maybe that’s what we need.”
The 30-year-old Turbin was a fourth-round pick by the Seahawks in 2012, part of the famed draft class that also included Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner. He rushed for 928 yards on 231 attempts (4.00 average) in 48 games with Seattle while serving as Lynch’s primary backup. That included a career-high 310 yards in 2014.
Turbin spent three seasons with the Indianapolis Colts from 2016 to 2018, averaging 3.1 yards per carry over 23 games. He last played in Week 6 of the 2018 season.
Turbin and Wilson were roommates on road trips and became close friends during the running back’s three seasons in Seattle. He was part of Wilson’s wedding party when the quarterback married Ciara in 2016.
Turbin posted to Instagram a picture from inside the Seahawks’ locker room Monday evening, indicating he had returned to the team.
Despite Lynch’s time away from the NFL, the Seahawks (11-4) are desperate for help at running back as they prepare for their showdown Sunday night against the San Francisco 49ers (12-3) in a game that will determine the NFC West champion.
Carroll confirmed Monday that Carson sustained a season-ending hip injury in Sunday’s loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Carroll said Carson has a fracture in his hip.
Seattle also is without backups Prosise (arm) and Rashaad Penny (knee), who are both out for the rest of the season.
Lynch, 33, rushed for 376 yards and three touchdowns in six games with the Raiders last season. He eclipsed 1,200 yards rushing in four consecutive seasons with the Seahawks from 2011 to 2014 and led the NFL in rushing touchdowns in 2013 and 2014.
“He’s had plenty of time to be working and get ready in case something came up, and I’m anxious to see him when we get him here,” Carroll said Monday. “There’s a lot of history here that’s great history. There was nobody that ever amplified the kind of mentality and toughness that we like to play with, so if we get a chance to get the Beast back on the field, we’ll see how that works out.”
Also Monday, Carroll said he expects Jadeveon Clowney to play against the 49ers after missing the Cardinals game with a core-muscle injury he’s been dealing with since Week 10. That was the first meeting against San Francisco and Clowney’s best game of the season.