RENTON — The NFL’s annual cutdown day, coach Pete Carroll said Tuesday, involved “a lot of moving parts” for the Seahawks.
None more so than at cornerback, which remained the team’s most unsettled position after the initial dust had settled on the team’s first 53-man roster of the year.
The Seahawks kept six cornerbacks, and surprisingly none of them was Justin Coleman, who was the team’s starting nickelback throughout the preseason.
But because he’s a vested veteran, Coleman does not have to go through waivers — and potentially be claimed by another team — and simply becomes a free agent who can sign with whatever team he wants.
Carroll made clear the Seahawks want Coleman back.
“Justin is a really good football player and hopefully this isn’t where we’re done with him,” Carroll said of Coleman, the team’s starting nickel in 2017 and 208 before spending the last three years in Detroit and Miami.
It’s a gambit the Seahawks have used before to keep a player at another spot who can either then go on injured reserve later (players who go on IR before the cutdown to 53 are out for the year while those who are on the 53 can return after four games) or simply keep options open with other players.
But would Seattle keep seven cornerbacks, a spot at which teams usually keep five?
Almost certainly not, and Seattle’s plan with Coleman made more sense when Carroll spoke after the team’s brief practice at the VMAC on Tuesday afternoon and said that both Sidney Jones IV and John Reid are still dealing with injuries.
Jones, a former UW standout who entered camp starting at left cornerback, suffered a concussion on Aug. 3 and did not play in the preseason, and Carroll said Jones, who has a history of concussions, has still not recovered.
Jones had returned to doing some work in recent works but Carroll said the symptoms “didn’t just flat out go away” so he will not be cleared for full duty until he not only is free of symptoms but then gets a few days past that. Carroll said the Seahawks are “trying to do everything right” to allow Jones to play in the opener against Denver on Sept. 12.
But he also said Jones would likely need some practice time to be able to play. With the game now less than two weeks away, the timeline is tight.
Reid returned to play against Dallas, but Carroll said he re-aggravated a groin injury.
That left Seattle with four healthy corners for Tuesday’s practice — rookies Tariq Woolen and Coby Bryant along with Michael Jackson and Artie Burns.
When the news that Coleman had been released was initially announced it was tempting to wonder if Bryant had won the nickel job — Coleman and Bryant were the only two to play the nickel in the preseason finale against the Cowboys.
Bryant didn’t start playing predominantly the nickel spot until after the preseason opener at Pittsburgh Aug, 13. And while Carroll said that Bryant “is ready to play” if needed, the Seahawks probably don’t want to thrust him into a starting role at a spot he had never played before this month against Russell Wilson.
So expect Coleman back soon.
Meanwhile, Woolen and Jackson got the starts at the outside spots against Dallas — on the right and left sides, respectively — and if the season started today, that might be how the Seahawks would line up.
But as Carroll said, there remain a lot of moving parts.
Could L.J. Collier go to IR?
One way the Seahawks could open a roster spot for Coleman is to put defensive end L.J. Collier on IR.
Collier, the team’s first pick in the 2019 draft, did not play in the preseason after suffering an elbow injury in the mock game Aug. 6.
And Carroll said Collier is still not recovered.
So could that make him a candidate to go on IR?
Carroll didn’t rule it out saying: “We don’t need to go there now — he made the club today.”
If he went on the IR, Collier would have to miss the first four games. But Seattle has adequate depth on the defensive line, deciding to keep Myles Adams, who was one of the breakout players of camp.
Marquise Blair a tough decision
Aside from the Coleman move, the biggest surprise was Seattle’s decision to waive fourth-year safety Marquise Blair, who was a second-round pick in 2019 at No. 47 overall, the highest of any defensive back in the Carroll era other than Earl Thomas in 2010 (14th).
But Blair suffered knee injuries each of the last two years and was buried on the depth chart at safety in camp after the Seahawks decided to no longer also use him at nickel, his main position in 2020 and 2021.
Carroll said the decision to move on from Blair wasn’t easy but indicated it was also what Blair wanted given he was going to be resigned to a backup role.
“He’s a nice ballplayer and he’s tough as hell and we loved him, so we wish him the very best and the door is always open,” Carroll said. “
In waiving Blair, the Seahawks kept undrafted rookie free agent Joey Blount out of Virginia as essentially the fifth safety.
“He just had a great camp and made plays on special teams which was where it really started,” Carroll said. “It’s a classic illustration of (a) making some noise on (special) teams (and earning a spot).”
Notes
— Carroll said outside linebacker Alton Robinson suffered a “sprained PCL” in his knee against Dallas but that “it’s not going to be a serious, long-term injury, but it is bothering him right now.” Robinson’s injury, though, may have factored in to the decision to keep undrafted rookie free agent Josh Onujiogu out of Division III Framingham (Ma.) State. The Seahawks on Tuesday also put rookie fifth-round pick Tyreke Smith on season-ending IR with a hip issue while rookie OLB Boye Mafe has also been dealing with a shoulder injury. Carroll said Onujiogu had a strong camp but noted “we’ve got a couple guys here that we are looking at that we’ve got to make sure everybody is healthy.”
— Carroll said OL Jake Curhan is still dealing with an elbow injury suffered against Dallas but indicated it’s not serious saying he’s going to miss a few days, while the Seahawks also held out rookie OL Abraham Lucas on Tuesday with Carroll saying “he’s got a little bit of an old knee thing that’s bothering him. He’s got some tendinitis, so we are just resting him.” Lucas appears to have won the starting right tackle job in a battle with Curhan, but Carroll wouldn’t confirm that Tuesday.
— Running back Rashaad Penny was back to practice after missing time last week with COVID-19. Rookie running back Ken Walker III, though, remains sidelined as he recovers from hernia surgery and Carroll said it remains unclear when he will be back. “This is really uncharted territory for him and for us too in that regard in what he’s coming back from,” Carroll said. “He feels way better, he’s moving around, he was throwing the football around today it’s just going to be one day at a time and I told him I’m going to start punching him in the stomach here pretty soon, a couple days from now.”