Report: Seahawks rookie TE Colby Parkinson had surgery for fracture in foot

In a bit of surprising news Friday morning, it was reported that Seahawks tight end Colby Parkinson had surgery to repair a broken bone in his foot earlier this month.

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According to NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport, Parkinson, a 6-foot-7, 250-pound tight end who the Seahawks selected in the fourth round in the 2020 NFL Draft, suffered a broken fifth metatarsal in one of his feet while running a route. The injury, which Rapoport says is a Jones fracture, required surgery, which Parkinson reportedly underwent on June 2 – 17 days before Rapoport’s report came out and the same day it was announced Parkinson signed his rookie contract. Rapoport also said Parkinson is doing his rehab work in Seattle.

#Seahawks fourth-round pick TE Colby Parkinson suffered a broken fifth metatarsal in his foot while running a route this offseason, source said. The Stanford product had surgery on the Jones fracture on June 2 and has been in Seattle rehabbing the ailment.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 19, 2020

Parkinson is the second NFC West player to have suffered a Jones fracture this month, as it was announced Thursday that San Francisco 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel has the same injury and will undergo surgery in the coming days. According to an NFL.com story on Samuel’s injury, Rapoport said that Samuel is expected to miss 12-16 weeks as he recovers from surgery. In a post on his Instagram account, Samuel said “see you in 10 weeks.” Some Jones fractures require just six to eight weeks of recovery time.

It’s unclear whether or not Parkinson’s injury is as severe as Samuel’s, or if they broke the same bone, but if we give Parkinson the same 12 to 16-week timeline that Rapoport gave Samuel, a 12-week recovery would have Parkinson coming back on Aug. 25 and a 16-week recovery would be Sept. 22, which is two days after Seattle’s Week 2 matchup against the New England Patriots. If it’s just six weeks, Parkinson would be back in mid-July while eight weeks would be the final week of July.

With all that being said, it would seem that Parkinson may start the 2020 season on the Physically Unable to Perform list, and that could be the case if the Seahawks choose to be more careful and patient in his recovery due to the tight end depth the team has accumulated.

The Seahawks signed veteran Greg Olsen to a one-year deal while also retaining Jacob Hollister and Luke Willson. Additionally, Seattle still has Will Dissly, who has shined the last two years, but suffered season-ending injuries early in both 2018 and 2019. Seventh-round Stephen Sullivan, who played both tight end and receiver in college and is listed as a receiver on the Seahawks’ website, could now see more time in camp at tight end. Additionally, the team has undrafted rookies Tyler Mabry and Dom Wood-Anderson.

As of now, the only other Seahawks player that will likely start on that list is running back Rashaad Penny, who is recovering from a torn ACL he suffered in Week 14 of last season against the Los Angeles Rams. If Parkinson is indeed placed on the PUP list, he would not be able to return to action until Week 7.

The injury will likely have a big blow on Parkinson’s early development, as he is likely to miss training camp and preseason action. We saw last year how tough it was for first-round defensive end L.J. Collier to play “catch up” as he suffered an ankle injury in camp and didn’t play until Week 2. He struggled mightily as a rookie and had just three tackles and no sacks and was often a healthy scratch.

Parkinson and his 6-7 frame added some intrigue to Seattle’s offense as it was thought that Dissly, Olsen and Hollister would be above him in the depth chart and play more snaps but Parkinson’s size and catching ability could be utilized in the redzone.

During his final season at Stanford, Parkinson had 48 receptions for 589 yards and one touchdown. Across his three-year career, Parkinson had 87 catches for 1,171 yards while scoring 12 touchdowns.

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