Seahawks safety Ryan Neal played the best game of his career in Sunday’s convincing win over the Chargers. For his part, Neal made seven tackles, broke up four passes and came through with a critical interception. He wound up with the highest defensive grade on the team.
What makes the performance even more remarkable is that Neal was – in his words – “sick as hell” during the game. Neal won’t call it a flu game, but his teammates are, per Brady Henderson at ESPN.
A little bit of what Ryan Neal said today about having his best game of the season despite being “sick as hell.” pic.twitter.com/wTFdYJZ59A
— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) October 27, 2022
Neal is not usually a starter but has been thrust into action by a season-ending quad injury for Jamal Adams followed by a failure from Josh Jones to effectively replace him.
Having gone undrafted and signed by the Seahawks after the Falcons release him, Neal has earned a long-term role as a backup. As a restricted free agent in 2023, it should be easy to bring him back.
