Seahawks’ rookie TE Colby Parkinson has surgery for broken bone in foot, likely out 4 months
The Seahawks are going to be without their newest — and tallest — receiver for months.
Rookie tight end Colby Parkinson, the Seattle’s fourth-round choice in April’s draft, broke the bone along the outside of his foot while training this month, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
The 6-foot-7 Parkinson sustained what’s known as a Jones fracture of the fifth metatarsal of his foot, the one that connects to the bottom of the pinkie toe, while running pass routes.
He had surgery June 2 and has been rehabilitating in the Seattle area, Rapoport said Friday on Twitter.
June 2 also was the day the Seahawks announced Parkinson had signed his four-year rookie contract.
The Seahawks did not respond to The News Tribune’s request Friday for confirmation of Parkinson’s injury and surgery.
Medical News Today specifies a person “who has had surgery to repair a Jones fracture can expect a return to all activity, including sports, approximately four months after surgery.”
That would be the beginning of October for Parkinson. That makes him a candidate to begin training camp next month and the regular season on the physically-unable-to-perform list. Only a player on the PUP list to begin training camp can be on PUP to begin the regular season. Such a player then misses the first six games of the season while exempt from the 53-man regular-season roster.
San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel sustained the same Jones fracture working out this week. Samuel had surgery Thursday. The Sacramento Bee reported Samuel could be out at least three months, at least into September. That’s the shorter end of the estimated recovery time of 12=16 weeks following a Jones fracture and surgery.
The Seahawks have promising tight end Will Dissly, a draft choice in 2018, coming off a season-ending Achilles tear from last October. Coach Pete Carroll has said this offseason that Dissly looks great rehabbing from his injury and that “he’ll be back,” likely for the start of the regular season in September.
The Seahawks signed three-time Pro Bowl tight end Greg Olsen in February to a one-year contract worth up to $7 million. They also resigned veteran Luke Willson and 2019 surprise tight end Jacob Hollister for 2020. Then they drafted LSU tight end Stephen Sullivan in the seventh round in late April.
Willson, Hollister and Sullivan stand to get more chances to compete and play while Parkinson is out.
Parkinson appeared to be a specific target for Russell Wilson with roles in the red zone, inside the opponents’ 20-yard line. That may still happen this season, just perhaps a couple months into it instead of from week one.
Carroll said after the Seahawks drafted 6-4 DK Metcalf last year, his top priority was to get bigger wide receivers to go with small, elusive Tyler Lockett.
Parkinson said after Seattle drafted him in April he learned all the receiver positions as a freshman at Stanford, and that he was an in-the-line tight end and wing or slot receiver in a roughly 50-50 split of time last season.
But he said the Seahawks have told him they see him as a “true,” traditional, “Y” tight end next to the tackle in their offense.
He comes to Seattle with glowing recommendations, particularly from Stanford coach David Shaw.
“At the combine, Coach Shaw came in and said hi to Pete and I and was bragging about him and loves him,” Seahawks General Manager John Schneider said. “He’s a huge target, has great hands. They didn’t have plans to play him right away, but he was just too good. You have big people like that running right down the middle of the field. ... He’s a smart, tough, reliable guy, great guy. Just off the charts from a character standpoint.”
Parkinson was weighing 254 pounds in April. He said then, before his surgery for this foot injury, that his blocking remains a work in progress for the NFL.
“It’s definitely getting better. I’m willing and able and ready to go, in terms of blocking,” Parkinson said. “Obviously, room for improvement, as I was mainly a receiver my first couple years at Stanford. I progressed to be a more complete tight end.
“I’m ready to step in and put my hand in the dirt and get ready to go in the run game.”
That’s now on hold for some months.
This story was originally published June 19, 2020 at 3:50 PM.
