Coach Pete Carroll said Monday that Penny (lower leg) is done for the season due to a broken fibula and a high-ankle sprain, Gregg Bell of The Tacoma News Tribune reports.
Penny will require season-ending surgery, an outcome which Carroll correctly diagnosed as "a heartbreaking loss for him." The 2018 first-round pick had averaged an outstanding 6.1 yards per carry through the first five weeks of the season, building off his 6.3 YPC mark from 2021. That had Penny well on track to enter free agency in 2023 with plenty of leverage. Instead, he now will have to do so while rehabbing from a serious injury. In the immediate future, rookie second-round pick Kenneth Walker is primed to take over Seattle's lead back duties, with DeeJay Dallas stepping into the No. 2 role.