Trufant return reason for hope for Seahawks

RENTON – For at least one play, it seemed like he’d never been gone. Marcus Trufant got into his familiar crouch at his cornerback about five yards across from the receiver – teammate Nate Burleson.

As the ball was snapped, Trufant backpedaled slightly as Burleson came at him. There was some brief contact, though neither wore full gear. Burleson tried two moves to break free with Trufant was locked to his hip. The ball never came to Burleson simply because there was no opening to throw to him.

Maybe it was just one play in a practice. But it’s one more play than Trufant has been a part of this season. And for the wounded Seattle Seahawks and their reeling fans, that one play is a sign of hope for better times ahead, especially after watching the Seattle secondary get torched by Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald and the Arizona Cardinals yet again.

On Tuesday, Trufant officially practiced with the Seahawks for the first time this season. It wasn’t a full practice. With Seattle on the bye week, players were in sweats and sans shoulder pads, and Trufant didn’t take part in every drill, but he did enough to have coaches optimistic about him contributing soon.

“It was just good to see him out there,” defensive coordinator Gus Bradley said.

Also joining Trufant in returning to practice was linebacker LeRoy Hill, who has been out since the first game with a torn groin muscle.

“It brought some energy back to the team,” Bradley said.

Still, Hill was expected to come back, even after having surgery to repair the tear. There was almost a cloud of uncertainty and mystery surrounding Trufant and the back injury that kept him out of training camp. Even now, Trufant was vague about the injury, only saying it was a lower-back issue caused by a minor tweak that he didn’t think was that bad at the time. He later said it was similar to the bulging disks that bothered and eventually shut down quarterback Matt Hasselbeck last season.

“He’s a quarterback, I’m a DB, so I kind of see myself as a little better athlete at times,” Trufant joked. “But it is same some of the stuff and we had some of the same type of injury stuff. It’s a constant rehab thing.”

Whatever was bothering Trufant was enough to not let him practice in the fall and force the Seahawks to place him on the Physically Unable to Perform list, shutting him down for the first six games of the season.

“As a competitor, you always want to be out there,” Trufant said. “But as time I went on, I figured I would be put on the P-U-P and that would be the best thing to do – to heal up correctly and to do the best thing for the team, which is what they did.”

Officially, Trufant hasn’t been activated but will be before the Hawks game against the Cowboys next week.

Does Trufant expect to play in that game?

“I want to play right now,” he said. “I wish we had a game this week. But it’s one of those things. I’m working hard and we’ll just see how things go.”

Counting Tuesday, Trufant will have a total of seven practices to get himself ready, and that’s barring any sort of physical setbacks or soreness that might keep him out of practice.

Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t seem difficult to be ready. But remember Trufant hasn’t played in a game since Dec. 28 – the Seahawks final game of last season and also he’s coming into an entirely new defensive scheme under Bradley. It’s a scheme that Trufant only briefly worked in and the most basic of levels during a summer mini camp.

“We expect a lot out of Marcus because he’s a very good player, but I think there is an aspect of holding true to reality and the reality is that he hasn’t taken any snaps in this defense,” head coach Jim Mora said on Monday. “There is a learning curve.”

But Bradley believes that Trufant’s intelligence and experience can shift that learning curve a little.

“Tru’s a smart man,” Bradley said. “It won’t take him very long to pick upon the scheme things at the corner spot. He should pick up on it pretty quick.”

Trufant doesn’t see it as a problem.

“I have to get in the film room and do as much as I can to get caught up,” he said.

But he does have some concern working back into a comfort level particularly with techniques and footwork.

“As far as the footwork and stuff like that, when you have a lot of time off it gets away, but it comes back, it’s like training camp,” Trufant said.

But can his return be the difference? Realistically, the Seahawks needed him most on Sunday against Arizona’s massive and physical receivers. Instead, he was on the sidelines watching his fellow cornerbacks get manhandled.

“I’ve played against those guys for a long time,” Trufant said. “I’ve won some and lost some going against those guys. Of course, I wanted to be out there fighting against them.”

But at least he’ll be back in the fight now.

Extra points

Hill looked solid in his return to the field, showing good speed and no effects from the groin surgery early in the season. He said he “felt perfect.”

While Trufant and Hill returned to the field, offensive linemen Sean Locklear, Walter Jones and Rob Sims did not participate, and neither did defensive end Patrick Kerney, linebacker Lofa Tatupu and cornerback Kelly Jennings. ... Running back Edgerrin James was excused from practice for personal reasons. ... The Seahawks made another roster move, waiving offensive tackle Kyle Williams from the 53-man roster, but are expected to sign him to the practice squad.

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