Thurmond to the injured reserve, Miller not cleared to practice

By Liz Mathews

The Seahawks announced Monday afternoon that the team has officially placed cornerback Walter Thurmond on the injured reserve after suffering a fibula (leg) fracture during Sunday’s game.

Thurmond underwent further testing on Monday and it was determined the injury would require surgery, ending his season.

“He’s got a pretty torn up ankle with a high ankle sprain that is serious and also with a fracture, so we’re going to lose him for the rest of the season unfortunately,” head coach Pete Carroll said during his press conference. “That’s a tough deal because he’s just getting started and just getting rolling. It’s difficult for him, so we’ll be hanging with him and trying to get him well, but it’s going to be the rest of the season for him. So it’s bad news to start.”

The team estimates that it might take up to six months for Thurmond to fully recover.

To fill the spot on the active roster, the Seahawks claimed cornerback Ron Parker off of waivers via Oakland. Parker had spent training camp with the Seahawks and time on the practice squad before his release in September. For the Raiders, Parker played in three regular season games.

“We really liked what he had done for us in camp and he’s got a lot of potential,” Carroll said. “He’s got great feet and is big, strong kid, so it’s a good deal that he was available for us. To pick somebody up like that it should help us out.”

Rookie Richard Sherman is expected to start in Thurmond’s place for now.

The Seahawks have also added running back Via Taua back to the practice squad. Taua was released last week to make room for linebacker Allen Bradford, but a spot became available on Saturday when the team activated safety Chris Maragos to the active roster.

Injury notes

Carroll announced that tight end Zach Miller has yet to clear testing to resume practice. “This is a serious concussion, obviously, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens on Wednesday and Thursday and see where we’re at,” Carroll said.

Quarterback Tarvaris Jackson is expected to return to practice this week after missing Sunday’s game with a pectoral injury. Jackson had traveled with the team and participated in the pre-game warmup activities before ruled inactive in Cleveland.

Running back Marshawn Lynch should also be active this week after he was a late scratch on Sunday suffering from back spasms. “We were surprised by that it popped up and became such an issue, so we’re going to have to be careful on how we project this right now,” Carroll said of the sudden spasms. “He was OK going into game day.” Lynch had been experiencing back issues since he signed with the team last year and the Seahawks have been aware of the lingering injury.

Center Max Unger remains day to day with a foot injury. “He’s getting along better, but we won’t know if he can do all the pushing and stuff that he has to do to play full speed until probably late in the week,” Carroll said.

The players have an off day Tuesday and return to practice on Wednesday.