Notebook: Seahawks’ D-line faces another obstacle with L.J. Collier’s injury

The fifth day of Seahawks training camp left fans with several injury-related questions, but without access to head coach Pete Carroll and no practice until Thursday, they’ll have to wait for answers.

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Left guard Mike Iupati and tight end Tyrone Swoopes were both in walking boots Tuesday. Iupati suffered a foot injury during June’s minicamp, though it’s unclear whether that is related to Tuesday’s injury. Ethan Pocic took first-team reps at left guard in Iupati’s place.

Worse still was a leg injury for first-round pick L.J. Collier. The defensive end was injured near the end of practice and limped to the sideline, where he was tended to by a trainer and later carted to the facility.

“He was on the other side, I just saw him go down,” left tackle Duane Brown said of Collier post-practice. “He looked like he was in a lot of pain, I’m hoping he’s alright. He’s going to be a good player. I’m looking forward to working with him as well. Somebody I think who has a lot of ability, a lot of potential. Still kind of raw in his technique, but I’m looking forward to working with him.”

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Collier has since been diagnosed with a high-ankle sprain, an injury that would likely sideline him for a couple of weeks. If there’s any upside to come from what is otherwise somber news for Seattle, it’s that Collier’s injury comes relatively early in the preseason — the Seahawks are still five weeks away from their regular season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals. That said, Collier will miss out on much-needed reps as he enters his first season in the NFL.

Collier, who was selected 29th overall out of TCU, was one of 11 draft picks by the Seahawks this year. After trading veteran defensive end Frank Clark to the Kansas City Chiefs, Seattle entered the draft in desperate need of an edge rusher. They took a defensive lineman, though not necessarily someone intended to replace Clark; head coach Pete Carroll likened the 6-feet-2, 276-pound Collier to former Seahawks starter Michael Bennett and said he’ll fill a similar role (that of a 5-technique, as opposed to an edge rusher).

The loss of Collier — at least for a short while — is yet another obstacle for Seattle’s defensive line. The team was prepared to enter the season without Clark, their top pass rusher from 2018, but they’ll now be without their remaining sack leader Jarran Reed, who was dealt a six-game suspension last week. And while they were able to add veteran pass rusher Ziggy Ansah in free agency, he’s expected to miss the preseason (and potentially more time) while he rehabs a shoulder injury.

Other notes

• If there was positive injury-related news, it was a return to practice for linebacker Mychal Kendricks. While the injury that caused him to miss practice Monday was never disclosed, defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. told reporters at the time that it wasn’t serious.

• The team announced a multi-year extension for long snapper Tyler Ott late Tuesday afternoon. The 27-year-old Ott originally signed with Seattle in January 2017.

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