BRADY HENDERSON

Seahawks promote George Farmer from practice squad; Troymaine Pope on the mend

Nov 23, 2016, 2:56 PM | Updated: 6:58 pm

George Farmer gained 51 yards on 11 touches in three preseason games after switching from cornerbac...

George Farmer gained 51 yards on 11 touches in three preseason games after switching from cornerback. (AP)

(AP)

RENTON – Four months later, running back George Farmer’s summer position switch has turned into a roster spot with the Seahawks.

Farmer was promoted from Seattle’s practice squad on Wednesday, giving the Seahawks some desperately-needed backfield depth after losing C.J. Prosise and Troymaine Pope to injuries last week. Seattle had an opening on its 53-man roster after releasing offensive lineman J’Marcus Webb on Tuesday.

Farmer, 23, switched from wide receiver to cornerback after joining the Seahawks as an undrafted rookie last season then spent much of the year on Seattle’s practice squad. He switched positions again during this past training camp, moving to running back when injuries left several other players unavailable.

“I had a history of playing running back, so I knew it wouldn’t be too hard,” he said. “I just had to get in the film room and learn my assignments and stuff, and let the physical part take care of itself. So most of it was just the mental aspect and learning what to do.”

Farmer gained 36 yards on nine carries and caught two passes for 15 yards in three preseason games, decent production for someone who hadn’t played running back since since a few games late in his freshman season at USC, where he mostly played receiver. But Farmer injured his foot when it was stepped on in practice the day before the final preseason game. He was waived with an injury designation, spent eight weeks rehabbing in Los Angeles and rejoined Seattle’s practice squad earlier this month.

“It was a good foundation that I built during camp,” he said, “so now that I’m able to come back, I’m able to build off that.”

Farmer joins Seattle’s backfield as the No. 3 option behind starter Thomas Rawls and presumably behind rookie Alex Collins, who’s expected to take on a bigger role with Prosise and Pope out. Farmer’s background may make him a fit for a third-down role, which requires pass-catching skills, among other things.

That’s the role Seattle had envisioned for Prosise, but he’s expected to miss several weeks if not the remainder of the regular season after fracturing his shoulder blade last week against Philadelphia. Seattle also lost Pope in that game to a high-ankle sprain. That injury can often sideline a player for about a month, but the way coach Pete Carroll described the progress Pope has already made, he may be back sooner than that.

“I was just with him and he’s bouncing around pretty good,” Carroll said Wednesday. “Shockingly, for a high-ankle sprain, he was bouncing around today. He’s had this sprain before in the same ankle, and lots of times those guys respond differently the second time around. The trainers have always said that, and he’s doing just that. So we’ll see what that means. I can’t tell you how far he can go, but they’re really surprised that he’s doing as well as he is.”

The Seahawks promoted Pope from their practice squad last week after waiving Christine Michael, who had been Seattle’s starter and leading rusher. That move was a reflection of how good the Seahawks felt about all the options in their backfield, but that was before injuries hit that group hard on Sunday.

After Prosise and Pope went down, Rawls became Seattle’s only healthy and available tailback with Collins inactive. That led Seattle to give one ill-fated fourth-quarter handoff to backup quarterback Trevone Boykin, not wanting Rawls to play any more in his first game back from a two-month absence than he already had.

Rawls played 40 snaps of offense and gained a combined 88 yards on 17 touches. Carroll said he wasn’t injured but that he got nicked up after taking – and delivering – some hard hits for the first time in a while.

“He got banged up a little bit but he’s already going, he’s going to practice this week and we will look after him,” Carroll said, adding that Rawls has responded normally so far this week. “He’s really excited to play again and all that, so it looks good.”

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