Seahawks safety Jamal Adams suffers shoulder injury, keeping him out of second half of win over 49ers

In getting just their second win in two months, the Seahawks may have suffered a big loss as strong safety Jamal Adams sat out the second half with an injury to his left shoulder.

Coach Pete Carroll later called it a “sprained” shoulder and said it was to the same side that he had operated on last year. Adams had surgery on his left shoulder following last season to repair a torn labrum, an injury he played with much of the second half of the year.

Carroll said he had no further updates, so it’s unclear how long Adams, who signed a four-year extension before the season averaging $17.5 million through the 2025 season that makes him the highest-paid safety in NFL history, may be out.

But teammate Carlos Dunlap asked fans to “say a prayer for Jamal, what he’s going through,” while fellow safety Quandre Diggs said “I’m hoping he can get back out there.”

The injury was significant enough that Adams changed out of his uniform at halftime and returned to the field to watch the rest of the game in street clothes.

“He was hurt about the injury, but at the end of the day when I came off the field he was the first person to congratulate me,” Diggs said. “That’s the type of relationship me and him have.”

Ryan Neal filled in for Adams and likely would do so for as long as Adams is out.

It may mean a different role for Diggs, who said he has to take on more of a leadership role when Adams is out.

“When he leaves I have to bring a little bit more energy,” Diggs said. “He’s definitely the Energizer Bunny. He’s the tone-setter, and I think when I realized he was down it was just like ‘OK, I got to help pick the guys up.'”

Redemption for Dunlap

Defensive end Carlos Dunlap made the game-saving play when he batted down a Jimmy Garoppolo pass on fourth down with 18 seconds left. In the third quarter, he also sacked Garoppolo for a safety on a third down, the Seahawks’ only sack of the day.

It was the first full sack of the season for Dunlap, who has seen his playing time diminish greatly the past few weeks. He played just four snaps Monday against Washington, his fewest in any game since snap counts became available in 2012.

Dunlap said the team has “communicated” a new role for him, though he declined to go into specific details other than to intimate that the team’s objective is to keep him fresher by playing him less.

Dunlap admitted “it’s frustrating. … This is new for me for my career.”

His two big plays Sunday made him feel a little better.

“I focused in on seizing those opportunities,” Dunlap said. “And today, I don’t know if it was 10 plays or whatever it was, but we made something happen.”

Asked how it felt, Dunlap said: “It feels amazing. We had a couple of ugly losses here for a bit, so it feels good to get an ugly win.”

Wilson, Carroll console Everett

It was about as rough a day as it could be for tight end Gerald Everett, who lost two fumbles and also bobbled a potential touchdown pass into the end zone that turned into a 49ers interception.

One of his fumbles was at the Seattle 24 in the first quarter, and the 49ers scoring on the next play.

The TD-turned-pick came in the third quarter and prevented the Seahawks from taking the lead — they trailed 23-21 at the time — though Dunlap got his safety three plays later.

The other fumble came as the Seahawks were trying to sew up the win, ahead 30-23 late in the fourth quarter. Everett fumbled the ball away at the 2 after taking a shovel pass.

“Heartbreaking day,” Carroll said. “He is a tough competitive, come-through guy, and those plays just went the other way.”

Quarterback Russell Wilson said he made sure to tell Everett that, “I always will believe in him. He’s a tremendous football player and he’s been great for us this season. I went over to him, just talked to him, you know, ‘You’re going to help us throughout this game and the rest of the season. Just keep your head clear.’ I have no doubt what Gerald Everett is going to do, how he’s going to respond.

“He’s a competitive warrior guy out there. He is a tremendous football player. You guys have seen what he’s been able to do for us all season. The one guy you don’t have to worry about is Gerald Everett what he’s going to bring back to the table and how he’s going to play.”

Injuries shuffle offensive line

The Seahawks finished the game with undrafted rookie free agent Jake Curhan at left guard and sixth-round pick Stone Forsythe at right tackle.

Curhan entered the game when Kyle Fuller left in the first quarter with an ankle injury. Carroll said Fuller sprained his ankle but offered no prognosis of how long he may be out.

Forsythe took over when Brandon Shell left with a shoulder injury he has dealt with for a few weeks.

“Brandon Shell, same shoulder that has been bothering him,” Carrol said. “Just aggravated it again. Not a whole lot worse than it was last week, but he didn’t finish last week either. We should note Jake Curhan and Forsythe got a chance to play in this game and Stone and those guys did a nice to help us finish the game, so that was pretty special.”

Defensive tackle Bryan Mone also left with a knee injury but returned.

“Mone had a knee that he put a brace on and was OK to go back,” Carroll said. “Toughed that out for sure.”

Rookie finds end zone

This hasn’t been the kind of rookie season Dee Eskridge had hoped for. He spent two months recovering from a concussion he suffered in his NFL debut in September, and even when healthy enough to play, he had only gotten intermittent playing time the past few weeks.

He finally had something of a breakthrough Sunday, hauling in three catches for 35 yards — including his first NFL touchdown reception on a 7-yard pass from Russell Wilson late in the second quarter.

“It felt great,” Eskridge said. “It kind of knocked away everything when it comes to jitters and all of that stuff. So now I can be more free to play, and I’m excited.”

Eskridge declined to discuss specifics of his recovery from the concussion, but he did visit a specialist in Florida to help with problems he was having with his vision.

“It was a strenuous process that I had to stay consistent with,” he said. “It took awhile, but I’m glad to be back.”

49ers’ Cannon suffers concussion

There was encouraging news after the game on the 49ers’ Trenton Cannon.

It was a gut-wrenching scene to start the game when Cannon was injured on the opening kickoff after his head collided with the leg of teammate Talanoa Hufanga. Cannon was down on the field for 10 minutes as players from both teams huddled nearby.

He was eventually taken off the field in an ambulance. He could be seen speaking and moving his arms.

The 49ers announced Cannon was in stable condition with a concussion. He was expected to remain in Seattle overnight for further evaluation.