JAKE AND STACY

Heaps: What Colby Parkinson’s foot injury means for the Seahawks

Jun 20, 2020, 1:36 PM

Seahawks TE Colby Parkinson...

Seahawks rookie TE Colby Parkinson had surgery on his foot on June 2. (Getty)

(Getty)

Some surprising news with the Seahawks came up on Friday when NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that fourth-round pick Colby Parkinson suffered a Jones fracture in his foot while running routes and had surgery.

Related: Rookie TE Colby Parkinson had surgery for fracture in foot

That a player was injured while training isn’t necessarily a surprise, but that Parkinson had surgery on his foot on June 2 – 17 days before the injury was reported – was a bit of a shock.

The news about Parkinson’s injury and surgery came the day after news broke that San Francisco 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel suffered a Jones fracture in his foot that will also require surgery. In the case of Samuel, who was one of the best rookie receivers in the NFL in 2019, Rapoport says he could miss 12 to 16 weeks as he recovers, though Samuel posted on social media that he expected to be back in 10 weeks.

Jake Heaps of 710 ESPN Seattle’s Tom, Jake and Stacy joked on Friday that Parkinson didn’t want Samuel stealing his thunder.

“It’s actually interesting because Colby Parkinson’s injury was no news, right? He broke his foot June 2 and I guess he looked at Deebo Samuel getting the attention from his injury and said ‘hey guys, it happened to me, too! Don’t leave me out of this discussion,'” Heaps said.

But in actuality, Heaps said that while Parkinson’s injury is disappointing, especially as he’s a rookie, there is reason for optimism for the young tight end.

“I think in this situation with Colby Parkinson it’s one of those where it’s unfortunate that it happened, but because it happened earlier than it happened with Deebo Samuel, it is positive in the sense of he should, if his recovery goes well, not miss a single game,” he said. “But he is going to miss serious time in training camp, which will hurt the young man.”

Last season, 2019 first-round pick L.J. Collier, a defensive end, injured his ankle early in training camp and missed the rest of camp as well as all preseason games and the first game of the year. He struggled when he returned and didn’t make much of an impact. Both Collier and head coach Pete Carroll noted that the missed time really hurt his development.

With Parkinson, if, at best, he’s back in six to eight weeks after his June 2 surgery, he’d be practicing in mid- to late-July. If it’s 12 to 16 weeks like Samuel’s is expected to be per Rapoport, then he’ll likely be placed on the Physically Unable to Perform list, which means he would miss at least the first six weeks of the 2020 season.

Heaps said that there’s reason for optimism for the Seahawks as a whole because of the position that Parkinson plays.

“I think when you look at the tight end room, it’s one that is a little more secure,” he said. “There’s more depth there and Colby Parkinson could have contributed to this team early on if he had made a big statement in camp, which he was fully capable of doing at 6-7 and 250 pounds and having his ability to catch the football.”

The Seahawks did a lot of work addressing the tight end room this offseason, signing veteran Greg Olsen, re-signing Luke Willson, giving Jacob Hollister a tender, drafting Parkinson and tight end/receiver Stephen Sullivan and adding undrafted rookie tight ends Tyler Mabry and Dom Wood-Anderson. Additionally, Will Dissly, who has shined in 10 games across 2018 and 2019, is expected to be fully recovered from a torn Achilles. With all that depth, Parkinson likely wasn’t going to have a major role in the offense, especially because of the four veterans at that position.

“(Parkinson) wasn’t someone who they were seriously relying and depending on in order for this offense to be successful, so it doesn’t have a tremendous amount of impact,” Heaps said.

Listen to the second hour of Friday’s Tom, Jake and Stacy at this link or in the player below.

Follow 710 ESPN Seattle’s Jake Heaps on Twitter.

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Heaps: What Colby Parkinson’s foot injury means for the Seahawks