Carroll: Top rookie L.J. Collier out “some weeks” with rare sprain Seahawks haven’t seen
The Seahawks have had more sprained ankles than they care to count over the years.
Yet L.J. Collier’s is one they’ve never seen.
Coach Pete Carroll said following Thursday’s sixth practice of training camp that Seattle’s rookie first-round draft choice has a bad sprain high in the foot near the ankle. Carroll said the defensive end from TCU is going to be out a while—and that, yes, the Seahawks are shopping for help on the defensive line to address concerns about their depth there.
That contradicts national reports from Tuesday, when Collier got carted out of practice, that said he had a high-ankle sprain.
“He’s got a badly sprained ankle, and it’s going to be a little bit. It’s really unfortunate,” Carroll said. “It was really an awkward position that he got tangled up in.
“And so we are going to have to take some time here to figure it out. It’s going to be some weeks, though.”
Signs and tones are Collier could remain out into September and the regular season. That begins for Seattle Sept. 8 against Cincinnati.
“It’s not a garden-variety sprain, at all,” Carroll said. “It’s a little bit of an unusual one, kind of in the upper part of his foot. It’s an unusual one for us. We really haven’t had a guy who’s sprained his ankle just like this. So that’s why we are going to be very slow, to make sure we know what we are doing with it.
“It’s a rare sprain.”
Collier left early during the fifth practice of training camp Tuesday in pain and seated on the back of a motorized cart. That was after the rookie first-round draft choice went to the ground grabbing his lower leg near the ankle and foot behind Russell Wilson’s throw deep in the offense’s backfield during an 11-on-11, full-pads scrimmage.
Asked if the Seahawks expect Collier to miss the entire preseason, through the end of August, Carroll said: “We are going to go one week at a time.”
He was on the second-team defense, developing behind current starting ends Cassius Marsh and Branden Jackson. Coaches were stressing footwork and hand technique with Collier, while still waiting top pass rusher Ziggy Ansah to practice for his new team coming off shoulder surgery.
Ansah, 30, may not be on the field participating fully until deep into this month, if then.
The Seahawks traded Frank Clark, their defensive end who had a career-high 13 sacks last season, to Kansas City this offseason rather than pay him the $20 million per year he wanted. Defensive tackle Jarran Reed, who had 10 1/2 sacks last season, has been suspended by the NFL for the first six games of this season for an alleged domestic-assault incident.
That leaves Seattle with just one player practicing right now who has had as many as 5 1/2 sacks in any NFL season. That’s Cassius Marsh. He has been with the Seahawks, Patriots, 49ers and Seahawks again since 2017. Marsh and Branden Jackson (1 1/2 sacks in three NFL seasons) are currently the starting defensive ends.
Thursday, the starting line for the first 11-on-11 scrimmage of the practice had Jackson and 2018 third-round pick Rasheed Green at ends and recently signed veterans Earl Mitchell and Al Woods at tackles.
Didn’t Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril once play for this team?
The thinned defensive line got even thinner when Carroll ejected Reed and guard Ethan Pocic from Thursday’s practice for fighting following a play in an 11-on-11 scrimmage. They threw punches at each other with their helmets on, which is about as smart as predicting right now who will be Seattle’s sack leader this season.
Carroll said, yes, the Seahawks are shopping for outside help at defensive end and pass rushing—but that they always do that, anyway.
“We’re always competing to figure it out you know, if there is somebody available, or whatever,” the coach said. “You know, we go all the way to the 53 (cuts from 90 players to set the regular-season roster at 53 at the end of August), and keep on going. We never stop. We keep on going.
“So we’re lookin’.”
Carroll acknowledged Collier’s injury on top of Reed’s suspension “does hurt our depth, though. But we do have guys to fill in playing the five-technique spot (outside shoulder of the offensive tackle).
“Quinton Jefferson (who started at end some in scrimmaging Thursday) is doing a nice job. And also (2018 draft choice) Rasheem Green can go over there, too.
“And so I don’t think we are out of it now, numbers-wise. We are OK. But we’ve got to be careful. We’ve got to keep it together now.”
This story was originally published August 1, 2019 at 2:08 PM.
