The Seahawks prepare to face former teammate Kenneth Walker III while Zach Charbonnet could return

As the Seahawks prepare to face former teammate Kenneth Walker III, they may be getting some help with their own running game.

Seahawks running back Zach Charbonnet may play for the first time this season Sunday when Seattle hosts the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs. He participated in a full practice Wednesday and was placed on the active roster Thursday.

His return couldn't come at a better time for the Seahawks, who are coming off a 17-14 loss to the Denver Broncos last Thursday night. It was the third loss this season for the defending Super Bowl champions.

The Seahawks' run game has struggled for much of the season and they could use Charbonnet, who tore his ACL in January and spent the first six games of the season on the physically unable to perform list.

"There is a possibility that you can see him on Sunday in some capacity," Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said this week.

Seattle is ranked 18th in the league with an average of 107.2 total yards on the ground this season. They have five rushing touchdowns. Rookie Jadarian Price, who was expected to help, is out with a chest/shoulder injury.

Charbonnet rushed for 730 yards and 12 touchdowns for the Seahawks last season before he was injured.

Of course, one of the reasons why Seattle's run game has dipped this season is the loss of Walker, their Super Bowl MVP who went to the Chiefs as a free agent in the offseason.

"But I think there’s mixed emotions. We’re happy for him, but also, we’re trying to figure out ways to stop this guy, too," Macdonald said.

Walker rushed for 128 yards and two touchdowns in Kansas City's 22-6 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. It was the fourth game he's topped 100 yards rushing this season. Walker is averaging a league-leading 133 yards rushing per game and has scored a combined eight touchdowns so far.

Walker became the Seahawks' top back after Charbonnet was injured, and ran for 135 yards in the Super Bowl against the Patriots to earn MVP honors.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid expects Walker to treat his return to Seattle as he does every game.

“I think the boys there will try to get after him a little bit. But he’s a pretty level-headed guy. The way he plays, you’re going to get a good rep when he gets the ball in his hands,” Reid said. "He kind of has one speed: He’s coming at you. It doesn’t matter who he’s playing or where he’s playing.”

The Seahawks' run defense is allowing an average of 96 yards a game, with four total rushing touchdowns. Seattle has not allowed a rusher to go 100 or more yards in 35 straight games, the league's longest current streak.

Kansas City (5-0) at Seattle (3-3)

When/where to watch: Sunday, 8:20 p.m. EDT, NBC.

Latest odds: Seattle by 2 1/2 points.

Against the spread: Chiefs 3-2, Seahawks 2-4.

Last week: The Chiefs beat the Los Angeles Chargers 22-6, the Seahawks fell to the Denver Broncos 17-14.

Last meeting: Kansas City won 24-10 on Dec. 24, 2022, at Arrowhead.

Series record: Kansas City leads 34-19.

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes against the Seahawks' pass defense. Mahomes has thrown for 1,309 yards with nine touchdowns and three interceptions. He's completing 66.5% of his passes. But he may be challenged by Seattle, which ranks atop the NFL allowing just 141.3 passing yards per game, and only eight total passing touchdowns. In his two career games against the Seahawks, Mahomes has thrown for 497 yards with six touchdowns.

— The victory over the Chargers was quarterback Patrick Mahomes' 100th career regular-season win.

— The Chiefs sacked the Chargers' Justin Herbert four times. They were the first sacks for the defense in three games.

— TE Travis Kelce has a reception in 196 consecutive games, longest active streak in the league.

— WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba has five games with 100 or more receiving yards this season. He leads the league with 717 receiving yards, seven touchdowns and an average of 119.5 yards per game. He also leads the NFL with 17 100-yard games since 2024.

— The Chiefs lead the league with an average of 414 yards in total offense per game.

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba runs the ball against the Denver Broncos during the second half of an NFL football game in Denver, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Geneva Heffernan)

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold throws against the Denver Broncos during overtime in an NFL football game in Denver, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Geneva Heffernan)

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) throws a pass during the second half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers in Kansas City, Mo., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

Kansas City Chiefs running back Kenneth Walker III (9) responds to a question during a news conference after an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers in Kansas City, Mo., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kansas City Chiefs running back Kenneth Walker III (9) escapes a tackle attempt by Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Del'shawn Phillips, bottom, as Cam Hart (20) moves in to make this stop during the second half of an NFL football game in Kansas City, Mo., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

Recent efforts to throttle Ukraine’s access to satellite systems have created a blame game of sorts among Trump administration officials and their allies, who have offered mixed messages about what led to the sudden restrictions on Kyiv's ability to intercept Russian strikes.

The limitations placed on Starshield — SpaceX’s military-grade version of the Starlink satellite internet service and the backbone of Ukraine’s drone operations and communication — last week alarmed the country's military and government officials, with commanders reporting lost drones and disrupted missions. After days of handwringing, President Donald Trump asserted Thursday that the service is running again at full speed.

However, a senior European official familiar with the situation on the ground in Ukraine said Thursday that nothing has changed in the operation of Starshield, with its speed cap still set at about 100 mph (160 kph). Ukraine has not received a clear official explanation of who ordered the restrictions or why, according to the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The episode and subsequent lack of accountability have sent shock waves through Russia hawks and Ukraine's allies on Capitol Hill. Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal announced a new inquiry into how the technologies were slowed down for Ukraine’s defense systems.

Questions have percolated since last week about who ordered the interruptions to the Elon Musk-made satellite internet system that Ukraine has relied on for years to counter Moscow's attacks.

Trump, as recently as Thursday, has maintained that he didn’t make the call. Vice President JD Vance has hinted at White House coordination with Musk, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have denied any administration involvement.

Musk — one of the GOP's biggest donors and a Trump ally — indicated that because Ukraine was using the military-grade version of his technology, questions about the service should be directed to the Pentagon.

Here are the players in their own words:

Over the last week, Trump has repeatedly told reporters that he didn’t order restrictions on a satellite communications system used by Ukraine’s military, causing its drones to lose speed.

The president also earlier doubted the disruption came from Musk, formerly a close adviser and frequent companion.

“Well, I don’t know if it was anybody, but it wasn’t me, and I don’t think it was Elon,” Trump said Friday. “And from what I understand, it’s the same as it’s always been.”

On Thursday, Trump appeared to confirm that the service had been down and claimed that it was once again working at optimal speeds. The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk had agreed to lift restrictions, and Trump demurred when asked if he had requested to lift the cap.

“You know, whether I called or whether somebody else called, doesn’t make any difference,” Trump told reporters. “I guess the bottom line, he put it back.”

In Cincinnati on Thursday, Vance was asked about Musk’s involvement in the slowdown of Starlink and Starshield in Ukraine and whether it warranted an investigation.

“I think that fundamentally, Elon Musk runs a private corporation,” Vance told reporters. “And I think it’s completely understandable that he doesn’t want to get in the middle of what is a war between two state actors without the United States government effectively directing him on what to do.”

Vance continued: “So I don’t think this is about Elon. I think it’s fundamentally what is America’s policy in Ukraine and Russia going to be.”

Rubio has insisted that the Trump administration and the U.S. government more broadly had nothing to do with interruptions to Ukraine’s access to crucial satellite data.

Speaking to reporters in India on Wednesday, Rubio said for the third time in four days that any throttling of network access to Ukraine was not directed or ordered by Trump or anyone else in his administration. He suggested, though, that the owner of the system — Musk — may have been involved.

“What I can tell you with certainty is the president of the United States nor anyone in our system ever requested that any changes to that system be made, and that’s what we said repeatedly,” Rubio said. “The president has nothing to do with the decisions that are made by Starlink and Starshield and by Mr. Musk. That’s a private company. The president doesn’t run that company and can’t direct that company to do anything.”

Hegseth has echoed Rubio's comments, denying on Tuesday any American role in slowing down the satellite internet service while also pushing the responsibility to Musk's company.

“We haven’t pulled anything back,” Hegseth told reporters, before adding that “there are terms of service that ultimately need to be complied to.”

He offered no elaboration on what terms of service Ukraine needed to comply with but said that “Starlink has the option to make those decisions.”

Musk, the world's richest man and leader of the company behind Starlink and Starshield, last week put the onus on the Trump administration.

“Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,” he wrote Oct. 14 on X.

“Starlink is a commercial service owned and controlled by SpaceX. Usage of Starlink is limited to civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action, as doing so would be inappropriate for a commercial company,” Musk added.

The wartime president has been working to reverse the restrictions imposed without warning last week.

Shortly after the systems failed to work, Zelenskyy said that there were no similar restrictions in European Union countries and that they apply only to Ukraine. “In other words, this is a planned operation,” he said.

Zelenskyy spoke to a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers Monday, saying in a video of the briefing posted to social media that “we still face speed restrictions on Starlink and Starshield services in different parts of the front, and we still have no explanation for this. Just different strange stories.”

In an interview Wednesday on “Fox & Friends," Zelenskyy said that Starlink connectivity is still limited in Ukraine and that he was told by Rubio he would work to “unblock” the slowdown.

Amiri reported from New York and Arhirova from Kyiv, Ukraine. Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani, Seung Min Kim, Konstantin Toropin, Matthew Lee and Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives to speak with members of the media at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (Kylie Cooper/Pool Photo via AP)

President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the T. Ed Garrison Arena, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, in Pendleton, S.C. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy answers media questions before his meeting with Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday Oct. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)