Familiar help at running back? Seahawks reportedly intending to sign back Alex Collins
The Seahawks may be getting help at running back. Familiar help, too.
It’s just not arriving right away.
Alex Collins is coming to Seahawks headquarters Friday to begin the NFL’s six-day entry protocol for COVID-19 testing, according to ESPN.com’s Brady Henderson. The intent is for Seattle’s fifth-round draft choice in 2016 to pass the tests and be able to enter the team facility and begin practicing Wednesday. Henderson also reported the team may be signing him to its practice squad.
The Seahawks’ top three running backs are injured. Chris Carson has a sprained foot. Carlos Hyde has a strained hamstring. Travis Homer has a bruised knee. None of them have practiced this week.
Rookie DeeJay Dallas is the only healthy running back, two days before the Seahawks (5-1) host the San Francisco 49ers (4-3).
Seattle this week is paying a price for not having a running back on its 16-man practice squad, which this season can include players of any level of experiences. So the Seahawks have nobody beyond Dallas at the position. Before the coronavirus pandemic changed NFL roster rules, only players with less than three years of service time in the league were eligible for the practice squad.
Collins, 26, played in 11 games and rushed 31 times for 125 yards and a touchdown as a rookie for the Seahawks in 2016. Coach Pete Carroll believed Collins was out of shape, and the rookie lost the trust of the coaching staff. By the end of the next training camp, late summer of 2017, Seattle had cut him. Releasing fifth-round draft choices before they begin their second season is unusual, but that’s how quickly Collins fell out of favor with Carroll’s staff.
That move looked like a mistake after Baltimore immediately signed him. Collins flourished in the Ravens’ run-heavy offense. He went from beginning on Baltimore’s practice squad to a 12-game starter who rushed for 973 yards and six touchdowns in 2017.
The Ravens re-signed him for 2018. He had seven more rushing scores that season but went on injured reserve after 10 starts that year.
Baltimore released Collins in March 2019. That was hours after Baltimore County Police said a passerby spotted Collins asleep in the driver seat of his Chevrolet Corvette. The car had crashed into a tree about a mile from the Ravens’ team headquarters.
Police reported Collins told them he fell asleep waiting for a tow truck to arrive. Police reported officers noticed a marijuana smell inside Collins’ car. A search found a jar containing approximately 5 ounces of marijuana, against Maryland law. Police also found a hand gun hidden in the car. Collins was arrested.
It was the opposite of the happy-to-lucky rookie with the Seahawks years earlier who posted videos online of his Irish-dancing hobby.
He hasn’t played in the NFL since that arrest. He recovered from a broken leg in 2019. Then the league suspended him for three games stemming from the arrest the year before. It’s unclear how that suspension applies to the Seahawks’ current interest in Collins.
He had tryouts with the Seahawks late last season and with the Detroit Lions this season. But he remains an unsigned free agent.
Now, he may be getting a second chance to help his needy, original NFL team.
