Just like the rest of the NFL, the Seahawks are dealing with a variety of injuries to key players at key positions on the offense as well as the defense and special teams. I've never seen so many preseason injuries in my history of watching football, which spans over 40 years. It makes you wonder if the injuries are more frequent, and what is the reason or reasons for the increase?
Every week, the football news reads like a casualty report from a war battle. The Seahawks were one of the teams recognized for their brilliant off-season moves in 2013 to bring in excellent players to fortify their team, which was already considered to be a Super Bowl contender. They made perhaps the biggest off-season acquisition through a trade making a deal with the Minnesota Vikings to bring wide receiver, Percy Harvin, to Seattle in exchange for a first-round draft choice and a seventh from 2013, and a conditional third round selection in 2014. In addition to the valuable draft selections, the Seahawks traded for Harvin, they also paid him handsomely. Harvin signed a $67 million six-year deal to be a Seahawk that will make him one of the highest-paid players in the NFL, not counting quarterbacks. Granted, Harvin is a thoroughbred of an athlete and one of the most dangerous players in the history of the NFL when he has the ball in his hands. He is a legitimate threat to make a touchdown every time he touches the ball. This is the kind of player the Seahawks traded for, but shortly after Harvin came to practice in Seattle, during one of the mini-camps over the league off-season program, he complained of some pain in his hip. The Seahawks reported it to the press, believing it was a minor hip flexor injury and would heal through simply "rest and non-invasive therapy treatments." However, after going through a series of tests, including an ultrasound treatment, a CT scan and an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) it was determined by physicians that Harvin did indeed have a slight tear of the hip labrum tissue. The Seahawks medical team believed that Harvin could play through the 2013 season with a small tear in his hip. Harvin had a league sanctioned right to seek medical advice independent of the Seahawks medical team, and he exercised that right, flying to New York City to see a highly regarded hip specialist (Dr. Brian Kelly) who examined Harvin, as well, performing many of the same tests as he went through with the Seahawks medical team. However, it was Dr. Kelly's findings that the tear would need surgical intervention and that with a "Labrum arthroscopic procedure", Harvin would likely miss 3 to 4 months of the season, healing and rehabilitating before he could return to football activity with the Seahawks. Harvin chose to have the surgery and started is rehabilitation process almost immediately. The New York physician group examined Harvin "post-op" and evaluated the procedure a huge success. Almost a month after the procedure, surgeons and special therapy physicians reported that Harvin's rehab was significantly ahead of the timetable they had originally anticipated.. This is primarily because his hip range of motion flexibility was unusually good, which is one of the most important yardmarkers to returning to athletic competition after the procedure had been performed. In other words, instead of the late November or early December timeline that most of his medical team had anticipated, it looks as if Harvin could return to the team as soon as the beginning of November. This is, of course, providing his rehabilitation assignment doesn't experience any "setbacks" while he is working the hip and during the time he continues to heal. Dr. Brian Kelly said pre-surgery, "Percy has approximately 90% chance that he can return to his full potential if his rehabilitation assignment goes as we expect. Regardless, this is not how Pete Carroll and the Seahawks wanted Percy Harvin's career to start in Seattle. Many analysts throughout the NFL picked Seattle as the best team in the NFL after Harvin signed with the Seahawks. Harvin was that deep threat and exciting offensive weapon that Pete Carroll lacked last year and really since taking the job Seattle 2010.. He's a special player and will be missed this year, but this Seattle team had a fantastic season in 2012 and Harvin was not a Seahawk then. Seattle returns all 11 offensive starters and nine of the 11 defensive starters for 2013. There's no reason that this football team can't be just as good or perhaps even better playing together for another year as a complete team.
Harvin isn't the only off-season acquisition that Seattle signed to be a Seahawk this year. Originally, GM John Schneider, told the press not to expect a lot of aggressive signings of free agents once the market opened up for the unrestricted players around the NFL without contracts for the 2013 preseason. So, as soon as the market opened, the Seahawks went out on a veritable shopping spree. Carroll and Schneider brought home some of the most highly sought after defensive players the league had to offer. The first was sack specialist, Cliff Avril, a very good pass rushing defensive end formerly of the Detroit Lions. He was the number one rated pass rusher available in free agency this year, and the Seahawks brought him in for a tryout.. Once Avril got a chance to meet the coaching staff, some of his potential teammates and tour the fantastic state-of-the-art Seahawks training facility… he didn't want to leave Seattle. In fact, Avril wanted to stay badly enough, he accepted a much less lucrative deal with the Seahawks than he would have just to stay in Detroit. Last season, the Lions offered Avril a franchise tag tendered at over $10 million, the going price for the best defensive pass rushers in the NFL. He refused to sign the tag and decided to play out his contract. After a very solid contract season in Detroit, the Lions never offered Avril a deal once the season had concluded. No one's really certain why, but the relatively lean contract for Avril set the market on pass rushing defensive ends so low, that Dwight Freeney and John Abraham took deals that were even smaller than Avril. It was considered a coup by Schneider and Carroll and gave Seattle another quality Leo End to fortify a defensive line that already included first-round draft selection Bruce Irvin and the Seahawks best quarterback sacking end, Chris Clemons.
After the signing of Percy Harvin and now Avril, the press was all over themselves, smitten and in love with the Seattle Seahawks, now adding one of the premier pass rushing defensive ends in football to go with their already "stingiest defense in the NFL" allowing just 15 points a game last season, an NFL best. But Avril came to camp complaining of a foot injury he sustained while going through his personal conditioning program during the off-season. Plantar fasciitis was the diagnosis an injury that has only one solution; Rest. The Seahawks just started training camp and already two of their shiny new toys couldn't even be taken out of the box. Once Avril healed the plantar injury, he returned to practice, but then somehow sustained an injury to his hamstring. Pete Carroll ordered more rest for Avril, but when he returned once again to practice, he apparently re-aggravated the hamstring strain. Not only has Avril not been able to see any action preseason, now he is considered doubtful to start the regular-season. Obviously, this is a great disappointment to the Seahawks, who released DT Alan Branch after last season, who subsequently signed with the Buffalo Bills. Branch was a solid, but aging interior defensive lineman and the Seahawks decided to go younger and more athletic.. Unfortunately Carroll's crystal ball didn't predict the spattering of injuries that has,, at least in the short-term, decimated Seattle's D line for training camp, preseason and the early regular-season. To make things a little more difficult, DE/LB Bruce Irvin serving a four-game suspension and DE Chris Clemons still rehabilitating a surgically repaired ACL, the Seahawks are looking quite thin on the defensive line that was considered one of the best in football. Hopefully part recalled the
The Seahawks signed another defensive pass rushing gem out of Tampa Bay, Michael Bennett, a double digits sack machine who actually started his career in Seattle before being traded to the Buccaneers. For some unexplainable reason, Tampa decided not to offer a contract to Bennett. He was the teams best pass rusher, and he was released. Seattle decided to right the wrong and sign Bennett back in Seattle where they and he thought he belonged. Just after the signing, the Seahawks released the information that Bennett was suffering from a partially torn shoulder labrum. He played through the 2012 season with the same ailment, and still recorded 9 1/2 sacks for the Bucs. Bennett will not have surgery during the season, and believe he can play through 2013 and have surgery once the season concludes. Still, there is a potential for Bennett to worsen the condition and end up not helping Seattle at all. Things that once looked so bright and so auspicious, began to have a great cloud hanging over training camp.
Seattle wasn't through in free agency, though. Just days after the Bennett signing, the Seahawks approached defensive tackle from the Miami Dolphins, Tony McDaniel, who was very active on the interior defensive line making tackles and stuffing the run. His 6'7" frame was something that Seattle lacked and his ability to either knock down passes with his great height or bulrush offensive guards back into the passing pocket could make Seattle's defensive ends the recipient of quarterback sacks and tackles behind the line of scrimmage. This is a move that Seattle may count on more than they had ever thought they would. McDaniel is presently healthy and fighting for a job on the defensive line that once had so much potential, but now looks as if they will start the season a lot lighter than they had thought originally.
The Seahawks also wanted to bolster their defensive secondary after not offering a contract to longtime Seahawk, Marcus Trufant, they needed a slot corner to defend wide receivers in the middle of the field. They took little time after landing that the Minnesota Vikings would not offer a contract extension to Antoine Winfield, a nine-year veteran of the Vikings and five years before that with the Bills in Buffalo. Winfield is one of the most sure tacklers in open field and have logged over 100 tackles twice in his career and has never had less than 40. Most of his years, Winfield logged an average of 80+ tackles. While Winfield isn't the tallest player in Seattle's secondary, not by a lot, but he is a hitter and he will punish receivers in the middle of the field which is exactly what the Seahawks need after Marcus Trufant finally slowed down in Seattle. Winfield hasn't given up a touchdown pass three years playing right corner for the Vikings, and in a conference with Aaron Rodgers, Jay Cutler and Matthew Stafford, that's saying a lot. Recently, Winfield was held out of practice for what was reported a sore knee. It will probably not mean any playing time once the regular-season begins, but it is something to watch. Especially considering the fact that Seattle has the deepest secondary in the NFL and there are a lot of young, excellent second straight defensive backs just drooling at the opportunity of making this Seattle team. However, Winfield will likely make the 53 man squad, and he is a monster in the middle and hits like a Mack truck, even considering his diminutive frame at just 5'9" 180 lbs. Antoine Winfield is definitely a player to watch.
The Seahawks made some very aggressive moves during the off-season, trading for Harvin, signing free-agent like; Avril, Bennett, McDaniel and Winfield, and all of this was done before Seattle had even made their selections at the NFL draft. The Seahawks had 11 selections, but had no first-round pick because of the Percy Harvin trade. They also sacrificed one of their two seventh round picks, but this was no worry to Pete Carroll and John Schneider. In the rounds between two and seven, they seem to thrive finding talent where other teams seemingly cannot: Players like; Kam Chancellor, KJ Wright, Brandon Browner, All-Pro Richard Sherman and Doug Baldwin, all outstanding players selected in the middle to late rounds of the draft, and Browner and Baldwin weren't selected at all. Carroll and Schneider found them as unrestricted undrafted free-agents. The 2013 draft wasn't much different for the Seahawks. Schneider and Carroll went wheeling and dealing picking up extra middle and late round selections. In the second round, and Seattle's first pick in the draft, they selected an extremely athletic and talented running back named Christine Michael, an athletic freak of nature, an unheralded wide receiver Chris Harper, with the speed of receiver and a body of a running back, a defensive tackle behemoth in Jesse Williams and several more players who just might stick with this year's 53 man roster. Some of these unheralded players could end up on the Seahawks practice squad, but there have been practice squad players that have bided their time just getting better learning the pro game and are moved up and activated sooner or later. Some of these obscure, but talented and notable players who have stood out in practice and in the preseason, include; DE Benson Mayowa, LB John Lotulelei, and T Alvin Bailey, all players who were never selected in any of the seven rounds of the NFL college football draft. It's players like these that set the Seahawks in a completely different, special category than the rest of the NFL teams. The Seahawks are finding talent in the middle and late rounds, and even players never given a chance through the draft. It's things like that which truly creates a football team with something to prove and the Seattle Seahawks in embrace it.
Not all is wonderful down at the Virginia Mason athletic center. The casualty list seems to grow daily, sometimes hourly. Bumps and bruises and sometimes worse injuries are putting Seattle in a position where they have to regroup and utilize backup players to fill in while the first line players healed and rehab back to the point where they can be 100% healthy and effective. Players who are currently ailing and one way or another include;
Zach Miller who has returned to practice and will likely suit up and play against the Oakland Raiders tomorrow night.
Cliff Avril who has re-aggravated his hamstring pull and it is reported that his ability to play in the first regular-season game in Carolina is now in jeopardy.
Brandon Mebane has an undisclosed injury and it is uncertain whether he will be ready for the first game of the regular-season.
Jesse Williams has been put on a season-long injured reserve and will not play in 2013.
Jordan Hill has been diagnosed with a bicep strain, preventing them from taking part in the Oakland Raiders preseason game in Seattle and also the first game of the regular-season.
Antoine Winfield has a sore knee, he is day-to-day and will not play in the final preseason game, but is expected to be ready for the regular-season opener in Carolina.
Korey Toomer is on the non-football related injury list and will likely not be with the team this year.
Chris Clemons is still listed as active, but will likely miss the first portion of the regular-season. It's uncertain how many games Clemons will miss, but for now, the team has avoided putting him on the injured reserve list which would keep him out of action and practice for six weeks.
Bruce Irvin will miss the first four games of the season due to violation of the NFL's performance-enhancing drug policy. He did not appeal.
Michael Bennett was kept out of practice today for an undisclosed injury. Pete Carroll indicated the injury is not serious.
Sidney Rice has not played in any of them preseason games and is nursing a pre-existing the injury that took him to Switzerland to have a noninvasive procedure done on the knee and is expected to be ready for the regular-season, but will not play at all in the preseason.
Richard Sherman was reported to have a minor foot injury after getting it stepped on by Golden Tate in a passing drill at the teams training facility.
Tony McDaniel sat out most of training camp and missed the first two preseason games against San Diego and Denver. He played against Green Bay and looked good, making several plays up the middle and putting pressure on the quarterback, something Seattle has needed now for two years.
All in all, the Seahawks are probably not in any worse condition than any other NFL team suffering with players injuries. In fact, they might be in a better condition than most. Seattle has had their share of nagging injuries, bumps and bruises and some of the most serious, but because the Seahawks enjoy more depth at each position than most teams they will likely be able to survive the time that their starters are healing or rehabilitating or coming back from suspension relatively unscathed. Starting the season against the Carolina Panthers is probably about as good as Seattle could hope for, matching up well against the Panthers and knowing their style of play after matching up against them just a year ago. However, in week two they will have one of their hardest test against the 49ers, but their first matchup will be at CenturyLink field and I believe that the 12th man will be the deciding factor between two teams who are both fighting against injury bugs, but the Seattle Seahawks will tip the scales, hopefully causing as many problems for the 49ers offense as possible. Last year's visit to the C'Link, showed quarterback Colin Kaepernick firsthand what a living hell looks and sounds like. He acted accordingly, often appearing rattled and shaken and above all, completely confused and irritated by the searing crowd noise cascading down the concourses and right into the ear holes of his helmet. I think it's fair to say Kaepernick doesn't like our little, cozy 68,000 person cottage. Another problem for the 49ers is that they don't have particularly good corners or safeties. They lost their best defensive back, Deshon Goldson, and now he has been replaced by a rookie Eric Wright. Also, Nnamdi Asomugha is returning to the Bay Area, but this time not in a Raider uniform, he's going to don 49ers duds and attempt to resurrect his disappointing career since traveling across the nation to the Philadelphia Eagles organization. On the other hand, Russell Wilson, does have a full complement of wide receivers to utilize at the beginning of the season, a luxury which is something that the 49ers cannot boast about. Michael Crabtree was their hot hand last season, and he will not be available until perhaps the end of the season after having a terrible Achilles tendon tear. The only other wide receivers that San Francisco has are Mario Manningham, who won't return until midseason and rookie Quinton Patton who hasn't played particularly well in preseason, the rest are relative unknowns. Their failed first-round experiment, WR AJ Jenkins, ended this month as the 49ers swapped their failure first-round WR for the Kansas City Chiefs first-round first-round failure at wide receiver. Jenkins was traded straight across with the Chiefs for Jonathan Baldwin, another player that won't exactly strike fear into the hearts of the Legion of Boom. In fact, the 49ers best wide receiver isn't even a wideout at all; Vernon Davis is a true tight-end, and a good one, but he's not a wide receiver and doesn't have the skills necessary to to run the deep routes, stretching the top of Seattle's defense like wide receiver Michael Crabtree would try. There's no doubt that the 49ers best true wide receiver is newly acquired possession receiver, Anquan Boldin, the same player who, at least in part, ended the dreams of the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII. Boldin was supposed to be the 49ers answered to the Seahawks signing Percy Harvin. That's not a fair comparison at all, though some of the talking heads on television would tell you differently. Boldin was one of the up-and-coming wide receivers in the NFL while he played with the Arizona Cardinals opposite of Larry Fitzgerald. However, once Fitzgerald wasn't on the other end drawing double and sometimes triple coverage, Boldin's numbers would slide when he wasn't able to draw single coverage anymore. This is exactly what's going to happen when Seattle plays the 49ers in September. Anquan Boldin will draw doubles sometimes, even though the Legion would rather man up and go "Mano y Mano" bumping and pushing at the line of scrimmage and let the best man win. The Seahawks talented secondary rarely loses this battle to the best wide receivers in the business. Boldin is a mere shadow of his former self and the Seahawks will exploit his age and a lost step or two. This is not to say that Sherman, Browner, Chancellor or Thomas will take him lightly, but they will be ready to play and there will be a lot said before the game, definitely during the game, and don't be surprised if there isn't some jawing at the end. To the victors go the spoils and the Seahawks would sincerely love to tear that ridiculous logo off of the size of the 49ers helmets. All in good fun, of course…
Boldin is a formidable receiver and has had a very productive career throughout his illustrious11 seasons as a pro, but he is not even close to having the speed and physicality he once had when he was considered an elite receiver, and he's entering his 12th season a little beat up and a lot less fuel in the tank or trade on the tires. A good possession receiver, Boldin will give Colin Kaepernick a big target outside numbers and even perhaps shallow and intermediate routes across the middle; he's a possession receiver. However, this is a place where few receivers dare enter when they are young and ignorant. Seattle's linebackers and huge secondary are going to make him pay dearly for making catches in their territory, particularly between the numbers and around the hashmarks. This is what the Legion of boom does to players who dare catch passes over the middle. They punish with vicious and physical collisions and they are the ones initiating the contact.. In the game of baseball, which hurts worse? The baseball bat or the ball? If you look back at the Seahawks game at CenturyLink Field vs. the Cowboys, you'll see some of the best possession receivers completely lose confidence and concentration dropping passes and completely running short routes because of the expected contact by Seattle's linebackers, corners and hard-hitting safeties. With the addition of Antoine Winfield, one of the hardest hitting corners in football, don't look for the Seahawks to take it easy on the 49ers wide receivers just because they're shorthanded.
The Seahawks will go into their final preseason game at CenturyLink Field without the services of; Brandon Mebane, Cliff Avril, Jordan Hill, Sidney Rice, Tony McDaniel, Michael Bennett, Chris Clemons, Michael Robinson, Antoine Winfield, Richard Sherman. Players that will be held out for different reasons will likely be; Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch, Golden Tate, Christine Michael, Robert Turbin and Bobby Wagner. These players will likely be held out because it's the last preseason game and all of these players are ready for the season, some of them have little dings and bruises that need not be re-aggravated.
I will be excited to watch the game, simply because I'm curious which players will perform well with all of them struggling and fighting to earn a position after the final cuts next week bringing the team down to the regulation 53 man roster.
