Bonus Monday, indeed: K.J. Wright, Ed Dickson practice for first time this Seahawks season

K.J. Wright looked up at his coach through the fog. And he smiled.

The Pro Bowl linebacker’s future isn’t so shrouded anymore.

Wright practiced with the Seahawks through the foggy afternoon at team headquarters Monday as the team returned from its bye. It was his first time on the field since he had arthroscopic knee surgery in late August.

“It was fun,” that coach, Pete Carroll, said. “Those guys gave him a hard time because he’s finally back on the practice field.

“He’s been such a fixture for us. He adds so much, it’s not a transition.”

It was the most positive indication yet the only other starter along with Bobby Wagner left from Seattle’s Super Bowl teams of the 2013 and ‘14 seasons will make his season debut Sunday when the Seahawks (3-3) play at Detroit (3-3).

Carroll stopped short of declaring Wright definitely will play Sunday at Detroit, or if he does whether the Seahawks will limit his playing time.

“I don’t know yet,” Carroll said. “We’re going to wait and see. We’ll look after him, for sure. We’re not going to overdo it with him. There’s no reason to do that.

“I don’t know what we are thinking yet. We’re going to see how he does during the week.”

But expectations are Wright will make his season debut Sunday, even if it’s ends up being a for a limited number of plays.

ff so, Wright will become the fourth man to play at weakside linebacker for Seattle in seven games this season. And the best, most-proven one.

The Seahawks started rookie Shaquem Griffin in the opener Sept. 9 at Denver. But he struggled mightily overrunning plays and missing run-gap assignments, so Wagner’s backup at middle linebacker Austin Calitro replaced Griffin on running downs for the last 2 1/2 quarters of that three-point loss to the Broncos. The Seahawks then signed Mychal Kendricks, who started the Super Bowl in February for Philadelphia at weakside linebacker. Kendricks played three games, starting at Chicago and Arizona last month. Then the NFL suspended him indefinitely for insider trading.

Carroll said Kendricks had “a significant hearing” Monday “that has been scheduled all along. We’ll find out, I hope to hear something (Tuesday) through the commissioner, so we’d like to know what’s going on.”

That is, whether the Seahawks will be getting Kendricks back this season. They signed him last month to a contract for the rest of the 2018 season.

Without Kendricks and Wright the last two games, the Seahawks have been playing nickel defense with five defensive backs and only two linebackers, Wagner and Barkevious Mingo, 87 percent of the time.

Wright’s return this week will allow Seattle to play more of its base 4-3 defense, a better option than nickel against a Detroit team that is running the ball better than it has in years. The Lions’ 248 yards rushing this past weeekend in their win at Miami was their most in a game in 11 years. Rookie Kerryon Johnson romped for 158 yards against the Dolphins, the most by a Detroit running back since October 2011 (Jahvid Best, 163).

Carroll said the last two weeks Mingo showed for the first time in his NFL career he can play off the ball as a coverage outside linebacker. Mingo has primarily been a pass rusher since Cleveland drafted him sixth overall in 2013, even back to his college days starring for LSU.

“What has happened is Barkevious has had a lot of extensive work and he is really well versed to do a lot of things for us now, much more so than I would have thought would’ve happened during the course of the season,” Carroll said. “He was forced in there a bit. He really showed us some stuff that we were surprised to see.

“He hasn’t played behind the line of scrimmage that much in his career, all the way back to college even. He looked very comfortable and he’s learned a lot over the years watching, paying attention and through practice reps and stuff like that. He did a nice job for us. That just gives us some flexibility that we didn’t know we would have, so that’s a positive.”

This bonus practice on Monday was also one for the Seahawks’ offense.

Ed Dickson practiced for the first time since the spring on Monday, a day the Seahawks aren’t usually on the field following a Sunday game. The Seahawks signed Dickson from Carolina in March to a three-year contract to replace departed Jimmy Graham. But Dickson missed the preseason with groin and quadriceps injuries. He began the season on the non-football-injury list. That required him to miss the first six games.

Sunday’s game at the Lions is the first one Dickson is eligible to play. Monday showed Dickson is on track to debut this weekend.

Linebacker added

The Seahawks claimed 21-year-old linebacker Emmanuel Ellerbee off waivers from the Los Angeles Chargers, whom Seattle plays in two weeks.

Ellerbee, a rookie from Rice, played in preseason games with the Atlanta Falcons, coached by former Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn. The Chargers signed him Sept. 2.

“He looked good on film. We liked him through the process of evaluations for the draft,” Carroll said. “Just a chance to add another competitive guy and see how he fits in.”

Vannett back from back issue

Dickson wasn’t the only tight end back from injury. Nick Vannett, who has been starting with Dickson out, practiced after missing the game in London with a re-injured back.

“Nick felt good...did everything,” Carroll said.

So after going into makeshift mode at tight end against Oakland—when former University of Texas quarterback Tyrone Swoopes made his first career start and had his first NFL reception a day after he signed off Seattle’s practice squad—the Seahawks will apparently be getting their top two veterans back at the position for Sunday’s game.

Extra points

Rookie defensive end Rahseem Green returned to practice. He’s missed the last three games with an ankle injury. ... Safety T.J. Green has left the Seahawks two weeks after the team signed the former Indianapolis Colt. “He was ready to stop playing football,” Carroll said. “I don’t know anymore about it than that really. He was done playing ball.”

This story was originally published October 22, 2018 at 3:38 PM.