Seahawks Injuries: Chris Carson, Shaquill Griffin, Ethan Pocic all get back on field
Nov 24, 2020, 1:41 PM
Chris Carson hasn't played since Week 7 due to a foot sprain. (Getty)
(Getty)
The Seahawks appear in line to get three very important players back from injury for their Monday night game at Philadelphia, but their depth has taken a big hit after last Thursday’s win over the Cardinals.
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Running back Chris Carson returned to practice Tuesday from a foot sprain that has kept him out of action since he suffered the injury on Oct. 25, while starting cornerback Shaquill Griffin was also back in action from a hamstring strain. Like Carson, Griffin hasn’t played since Week 7 when he sustained a concussion and the hamstring injury.
“They did get out there today and got to work,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said during a Tuesday afternoon press conference. “They were doing all the regular practice stuff today so a good sign.”
Starting center Ethan Pocic, who has missed the past two games with a concussion, also practiced Tuesday and should return to the spot where Seattle played Kyle Fuller in Week 10 and Damien Lewis last Thursday.
While it paid off for the Seahawks to hold those three players out in the Week 11 win over Arizona, the short turnaround from their Sunday, Nov. 15 loss to the Rams to the Nov. 19 game vs. the Cardinals predictably wreaked havoc on other areas of Seattle’s roster.
Here’s a look at that and a few other injury notes Carroll shared on Tuesday.
• While Carson is likely to play Monday and second-string running back Carlos Hyde had a nice showing in his own return from injury against Arizona, Seattle is still banged up in the backfield. Carroll said Travis Homer has a sore wrist that will likely need more time to heal, and Bo Scarbrough is done for the season as he tore his hamstring and needs surgery after suffering the injury in his season debut last week.
• Sticking at running back, Rashaad Penny isn’t expected to practice this week but Carroll said “we’re getting ready to make the call” on him practicing ahead of Week 13. Penny has been on the PUP list all year recovering from a torn ACL and subsequent surgery that ended his 2019 season.
• Defensive end Darrell Taylor, the Seahawks’ 2020 second-round pick, has not yet returned to practice. He has been on the NFI list all season following knee surgery. Carroll expressed optimism last week in saying he was “kinda counting on Darrell” practicing ahead of the Eagles game.
• Offensive tackle Brandon Shell has a high ankle sprain that took him out of the Cardinals game and will have a tough road to returning Monday.
“He’s still hobbling a little bit. It’s going to be a close call to the game,” said Carroll, adding that Shell’s status is day to day.
• Defensive tackle Bryan Mone, who has missed the past two games and is on injured reserve with a high ankle sprain of his own, may be done for the year.
“I don’t know if we’re going to make it or not,” Carroll said of Mone, whose ankle is still in a boot.
• Stephen Sullivan, the rookie tight end/wide receiver/defensive end, needs surgery to correct an issue with his hip flexor. Carroll called it an “athletic hernia thing.” Sullivan debuted in Week 8 on defense, but Carroll said the team had already made a determination that he would return to offense before it was known he needed surgery.
• Finally, there is hope that veteran tight end Greg Olsen, who was placed on IR on Monday, could be back from his ruptured plantar fascia around the end of the regular season.
“We’re going to kind of shoot four to six weeks and maybe on the early end of that and see what happens,” Carroll said.
Olsen has come back from the same injury on his other foot in recent years.
“Like I told you, he’d been through this before, he knows what he’s into and all that so he’ll know the most as he gets going,” Carroll said. “He’s still pretty sore though right now.”
Carroll also said that with Olsen out, rookie Colby Parkinson will jump right into the rotation at tight end. A fifth-round pick out of Stanford, Parkinson has played just one game this season after recovering from offseason foot surgery.
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