Wide receiver Sidney Rice still limited in practice

By Liz Mathews

 

Wide receiver Sidney Rice returned to the practice field this week, although he was a limited participant on both Wednesday and Thursday. Rice is still recovering from a sore shoulder that sidelined him for the regular season opener.

Starting quarterback Tarvaris Jackson is thrilled to have his most familiar target back in action.

“That’s a comfort zone for me,” Jackson said of Rice on Thursday. “I know Sid well as a player. I don’t know his status for this weekend, but we’re going to continue to keep plugging in. I know he’s going to do his best to get out there.”

During his press conference on Wednesday, head coach Pete Carroll would not confirm that Rice was a go for this Sunday in Pittsburgh.

“Having Sidney out on the practice field was great today along with Robert (Gallery) and ‘Heater’ (David Hawthorne),” Carroll said on Wednesday. “He ran around a lot and caught a lot of balls today and what that means, I don’t know. It’s better than not seeing him do it so it was good to have the legs out there and I know he felt good to be back with his teammates and all.

“We’ll just, again, go to tomorrow and see how he responds from today and take these just one day at a time and treat them all individually.”

For now, Rice is participating in drills and individual activities, wearing the tell-tale red bib that he’s not to be hit during practice.

“Once he gets back out there he’ll be great for our offense,” Jackson said. “Guys are going to try to honor him and if they don’t, we get a pick over the top and we’re going to try to take advantage of that one-on-one.”

The Seahawks depart for Pittsburgh Friday afternoon in an attempt to adjust to the time zone change before the game. Carroll will speak to the media after Friday’s walkthrough and is expected to name the starters at that time.

The official injury report will be released Friday after practice.

Practice report

The following Seahawks did not participate in practice on Thursday:

FB Michael Robinson (ankle)

T Jarriel King (ankle)

DE Dexter Davis (hip)

LB Malcolm Smith (hamstring)

CB Byron Maxwell (ankle)

Guard Robert Gallery and linebacker David Hawthorne were full participants. Sidney Rice was officially listed as limited.