NFL suspends Seahawks OLB Derick Hall for one game without pay
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Brady HendersonDec 19, 2025, 04:01 PM ET
- Brady Henderson is a reporter for NFL Nation and covers the Seattle Seahawks for ESPN. He joined ESPN in 2017 after covering the team for Seattle Sports 710-AM.
RENTON, Wash. — The NFL is suspending Seattle Seahawks outside linebacker Derick Hall for one game without pay for an act of unnecessary roughness and unsportsmanlike conduct, the league announced Friday.
The NFL alleges that Hall unnecessarily stepped on the leg of Los Angeles Rams guard Kevin Dotson while Dotson was on the ground at the end of a play in the first quarter of the Seahawks’ overtime win at Lumen Field on Thursday night. Dotson left the game with an ankle injury and did not return. He was later seen outside the Rams’ locker room on crutches and with a walking boot on his left foot.
Hall «absolutely» plans to appeal the suspension, a source told ESPN. If it’s upheld, he’ll be eligible to return to the Seahawks’ active roster Monday, Dec. 29, a day after Seattle’s Week 17 game against the Carolina Panthers.
Rams coach Sean McVay was asked Friday whether Dotson got injured because of the stomp or was injured earlier in the play.
«I think he was injured before, but it certainly didn’t help the matter,» McVay said. «And it was definitely not stuff we want in our game.»
A second-round pick in 2023, Hall is part of Seattle’s four-man outside linebacker rotation and averages roughly 30 snaps per game. He has one sack and 10 QB hits in 13 games this season after recording eight sacks and 20 QB hits in 2024.
The Seahawks (12-3) clinched a playoff berth and took over sole possession of first place in the NFC West with their win over Los Angeles, but their defense might be short-handed next week against Carolina.
Safety Coby Bryant and cornerback Riq Woolen both suffered knee injuries in the fourth quarter Thursday night and did not return. Coach Mike Macdonald said postgame that Bryant’s «is not automatically season-ending right now.»
Sources told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler that Bryant is expected to miss «some time» based on initial tests and that Woolen’s injury is not considered serious.
Nickelback Nick Emmanwori also went down in the fourth quarter Thursday night, but Macdonald said he cleared the concussion protocol and would have returned had Seattle’s defense gone back onto the field.
ESPN’s Sarah Barshop contributed to this report.
