Pete Carroll says Seahawks won’t make decision yet on Derrick Coleman’s status

Fullback Derrick Coleman remains suspended by the Seahawks, who are still gathering information about the incident that led to his arrest on suspicion of felony vehicular assault and hit and run.

BY BRADY HENDERSON

Oct 16, 2015, 3:41 PM Updated: 4:56 pm

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"We're just waiting it out," Pete Carroll said of suspended Seahawks fullback Derrick Coleman. (AP)

(AP)

RENTON – Fullback Derrick Coleman remains suspended by the Seahawks, who are still gathering information about the incident that led to his arrest on suspicion of felony vehicular assault and hit and run.

That was the word from coach Pete Carroll, who said Friday that the team has yet to see or speak with Coleman since he was arrested and jailed following a two-car accident Wednesday evening in Bellevue.

The Seahawks suspended Coleman indefinitely pending more information about the incident. The King County Prosecutor’s Office said a decision on whether to charge Coleman won’t be made until the Bellevue Police Department completes its investigation into the incident, which is expected to take at least a month. That investigation will reveal whether Coleman was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the accident, which BPD suspected may have been the case.

“We’re just waiting it out,” Carroll said when asked if the Seahawks would wait for the investigation to decide on reinstating Coleman. “We don’t know anything. We haven’t been able to find out a word about what’s going on. We’re just really thrilled that he’s getting out and there’s no charges and that kind of stuff. We’ll just take it one step at a time when we have the opportunity to.”

Coleman was released from jail on Friday, a matter of course in the absence of charges. Carroll was asked how Coleman’s release from jail affects his status with the team.

“First off, we haven’t talked to him or seen him at all and we can’t wait for him to get out. I think I’ll see him first thing in the morning. I don’t have any information about it. Right now we’re just concerned for – he had a serious accident and there were some serious issues there – we’re concerned for everybody’s health and we’ll make sure that that’s the first thing we’re going to take a look at.

“It’s not really about the game right now. We just need to make sure Derrick’s OK and see what we can do to support him.”

With Coleman not expected to be reinstated from his suspension right away, Will Tukuafu will start at fullback Sunday against Carolina. Carroll said the Seahawks had to make other personnel adjustments to account for Coleman’s absence as he is also a key player on special teams.

“He’s been a significant part of our team and so we do have to shuffle some stuff to get that done,” Carroll said.