Doug Baldwin returns to practice for first time in three weeks, on track to play Sunday
Doug Baldwin is back, pretty much on schedule.
The Pro Bowl wide receiver and top target Russell Wilson has been without for the last 2 1/2 games practiced on a limited basis Wednesday for the first time since he sprained a ligament in his right knee Sept. 9 in the first half of the opener at Denver.
A common estimate from medical sources was a return from Baldwin’s injury, a partially torn medial collateral ligament, would take two to four weeks. This is the third week since he got hurt.
Baldwin is now squarely on track to start Sunday in the first NFC West game this season for Seattle (1-2), at Arizona (0-3). Coach Pete Carroll said again on Wednesday he expects that.
The loss at Chicago Sept. 17 and last weekend’s win over Dallas have been the first games Baldwin has missed since 2012, his second season in the NFL with Seattle.
Oh, yes, Wilson and the Seahawks’ offense have missed Baldwin. Especially on third downs, Baldwin’s specialty.
Brandon Marshall has tried to fill Baldwin’s clutch role in extending drives. But the 34-year-old, six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver had three passes from Wilson on third downs go off his hands last weekend against Dallas. Wilson then started to throw to Tyler Lockett and others on third down.
Baldwin turned 30 years old last week. He had already described his other, left knee as likely to be less than 100-percent healthy all season. He missed August because of that injury, for which he got unspecified “special” treatment.
Coach Pete Carroll was asked Wednesday if the team is going to have to manage Baldwin differently the rest of this season due to his knee issues.
“We need to find out. We need to find out how it goes.” Carroll said. “Doug’s a guy that we communicate with very directly over a long period of time. We’ll work our way through it and we’ll just assess how he’s doing and how it’s going. It’s a little bit unknown how it’s going to feel after a day’s work right now, and then the next day and put a game under our belt, then we’ll go to the next week. We’ll figure it out how he is by Wednesday. We don’t know that stuff yet. We’re going to take it one step at a time.
“He’s such a great competitor and he’s so determined to be part of it. He’s going to work his way through this.”
Carroll acknowledged the Seahawks’ coaches and medical and training staffs will not leave managing his practice time and pain up to Baldwin.
“We got to watch him, because he has a tendency to go over the top because he’s so aggressive,” Carroll said. “We’re going to monitor it and really bank on the fact that he’s such a great competitor that he’s going to be able to figure it out and put it together.”
This story was originally published September 26, 2018 at 6:17 PM.