Huard: Seahawks shouldn’t look outside for DE help — at least not yet
Jul 31, 2019, 2:22 PM
Seahawks DE L.J. Collier (ankle) returned to team practice Wednesday. (Getty)
(Getty)
Tuesday’s injury to Seahawks first-round pick L.J. Collier brought yet another obstacle for Seattle’s defensive line, and while early reports indicate the rookie could miss the preseason, 710 ESPN Seattle’s Brock Huard doesn’t think Seattle should see help from a free agent veteran – at least, not yet.
L.J. Collier carted off field at Seahawks practice
“You’ve got to give Brandon Jackson, Rasheem Green, and Quinton Jefferson the chance to take this opportunity and run with it,” Huard said during Wednesday’s Blue 42 segment on Brock and Salk (you can listen to that full audio segment in the audio clip embedded below).
“If John Clayton’s right and this team is as deep as they were back in the heyday – not upper-tier talent, but just one through 53 – then you’ve got to give these guys a chance. And there’s a reason that Connor Barwin and Nick Perry and these guys have not been signed by anybody else. They’re largely damaged goods, they’re at the end of their careers. How much are you going to get out of them? If we’re in Week 5 of the regular season and you’re in dire straights from an injury standpoint, that’s another thing. But I think in Week 1 of training camp, you’ve got to give your people the chance to prove that they can take the next step.”
Collier’s injury is less about the loss of a single impactful player, and more about mounting losses at the same position. (That being said, Seattle was surely hoping it’s first-round pick would see more reps in August.)
“It hurts (that defensive line room) because he was going to have a chance to compete for the starting job, and it takes one more guy out of the mix at defensive end,” John Clayton said. “So now what you have to wonder is do they go outside the organization and get somebody new? Do they get a Barwin or a Perry? Because if it’s a high-ankle sprain you can recover from it, but he’s still going to miss time and it will nag him the rest of the season. So this is a big, big blow.”
