The Seattle Seahawks’ secondary has already dealt with its fair share of injuries this season, with Devon Witherspoon, Julian Love and rookie Nick Emmanwori already missing time at least one game and the latter still yet to return.

It’s not just the fact that those players have missed time, though, it’s also that the injuries have continued to affect them even after they return. Well, at least it looked like it for Witherspoon. The two-time Pro Bowl cornerback made his return in Week 4 against the Arizona Cardinals after missing the previous two games, but it wasn’t exactly a triumphant comeback.

Witherspoon was involved in both of the Cardinals’ fourth-quarter touchdowns, and not in a good way. First, Arizona wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. went up and snagged a 16-yard touchdown over him on a corner route to bring the game within one score.

Then in the final minute, Witherspoon missed a tackle against Arizona running back Emari Demercado after coming across the field to chase him down, allowing the Cardinals to tie it up.

Witherspoon took accountability for his performance after the game, telling reporters, “I’ve got to be better.” However, head coach Mike Macdonald had a much more optimistic outlook.

“He played a good game,” Macdonald said, per The Athletic. “There’s a couple plays he gave up, a couple catches that Harrison had on him, but Spoon’s going to be fine. The guy competes; he’s on his stuff. He’s a spark plug out there for us.”

It’s important to keep in mind that Witherspoon hasn’t fully participated in practice since Week 1, so the fact that he’s playing at all is worthy of praise.

The “mini bye week” the Seahawks enjoyed after winning on Thursday will hopefully allow Witherspoon, and the rest of the secondary, to heal up. When everyone is back and healthy, Seattle’s secondary has the potential to be one of the league’s best.

“It’ll be interesting,” Macdonald said. “We haven’t game planned anything yet on defense, but this is a byproduct of guys getting a lot of work, staying ready with the (practice squad). Guys being ready to go gives you added flexibility when you go into game planning, which is cool.

“It’s also something you have to be mindful of so you don’t get too cute and you’re still able to throw fastballs, and guys can execute without having a thousand personnel groups.”