Devon Witherspoon races time to be ready for Seahawks opener. Another rookie’s worse luck
Is Devon Witherspoon’s slow track back to the Seahawks’ defense too slow for him to play in their opener?
That’s Pete Carroll’s concern, now that his top rookie is at least back on a field.
Witherspoon returned to practice Tuesday for the first time in 11 days. But it wasn’t full participation in the main practice. The cornerback and fifth pick in this year’s draft tested his hamstring injury in the lightest on-field work the team has: the daily morning walkthrough practice.
“He felt like he ran pretty good with the short sprints he did,” Carroll said. “Just keep progressing.
“We’re really hoping that he can get back out here with time to prepare for the opener.”
That’s Sept. 10, against the Los Angeles Rams at Lumen Field.
That would be the first NFL game of any kind for Witherspoon. He won’t play in any of Seattle’s three preseason games, including the final one Saturday at Green Bay.
The Seahawks’ plan is to have Witherspoon test the hamstring rhis week in these morning walkthroughs that go over scheme and about 40 play calls on the team’s indoor practice field. If he’s pain free from that jogging, he would practice more fully next week, outside in the main afternoon practices.
Now that the league has gone from four to three preseason games, teams have from the cutdown deadline from 90 players to the initial 53-man roster Aug. 29 through Labor Day weekend to practice, free of games. Witherspoon will will have nine full practice days plus some weekend days off from the preseason finale until regular-season practices begin Sept. 4.
“The injury should be healed by then, but we have to get him ready to play,” Carroll said. “I’m more concerned about that.
“That’s why he’ll be working throughout now and all of the walkthroughs now. That’s 40 plays a day that a guy gets and that’s a lot of work. We’ll try to put all of the pieces together when we get a shot.”
Seattle’s defensive secondary has changed since Witherspoon last practiced in it.
Then, he was the primary nickel back inside against slot receivers. He was the second left cornerback. Tre Brown and Michael Jackson were the starting cornerbacks. Riq Woolen, the 2022 rookie Pro Bowl star, had yet to fully practice since arthroscopic knee surgery in May.
Now Woolen is back full go, back in his right-cornerback spot. Brown took the lead over Jackson for the left-cornerback job Saturday night. Brown had an interception at the goal line to preserve a three-point lead in the second half of a standout performance against Dallas.
Jackson allowed three first downs in the first quarter of that preseason game.
Tuesday in practice, Brown was the first left cornerback opposite Woolen. Jackson alternated with Brown. Veteran Artie Burns remained on the second defense.
With all the younger cornerbacks they have playing and, in Witherspoon’s case, coming back, the Seahawks wouldn’t mind Burns excelling Saturday in Green Bay. Other teams seeing such a performance could open the possibility of Seattle trading Burns by next Tuesday’s roster cut deadline. That is, if the can find another team willing to take a chance on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ former first-round pick. Seattle re-signed Burns this spring when Woolen had his knee surgery.
All the cornerbacks except Woolen and Witherspoon are likely to play Saturday in Green Bay. The Seahawks are preserving Woolen for the real games.
“We’re getting good competition there. Tre is doing really well,” Carroll said. “Michael’s playing well, Artie is doing a really good job, too.
“And Riq is back out, too. Riq practiced not quite a full load of plays, but he had a pretty good menu (Tuesday). We’re getting back to where it’s a very competitive spot for us.”
At nickel, undrafted rookie Jonathan Sutherland was seizing his chance with Witherspoon out. Sutherland, from Penn State, was alternating with 2022 nickel Coby Bryant as the primary slot cornerback inside.
But Saturday against Dallas Sutherland injured his groin. Carroll said that’s a “day-to-day” issue for the rookie.
Carroll has said with his tackling and coverage skills for which the Seahawks drafted him so highly, Witherspoon “fits” the defense when he’s on the field. He should. He’s the highest-drafted cornerback Seattle’s had since 1997 and Shawn Springs. He is not going to sit the bench this season, if he’s healthy enough to play.
If he is, with how much time he’s missed, with how Brown is playing and how Jackson has played all summer, Witherspoon may be inside as the nickel back. Seattle is likely go nickel far more than the 56% of the time it played with five defensive backs last season — when it finished 26th in the NFL in total defense and 25th in points allowed.
That’s whether or not Jamal Adams gets back in time for the opener, too. The $70 million safety may come off the physically-unable-to-perform list he’s been on all training camp and begin walkthrough practices this week, Carroll said.
The coach emphasized that doesn’t mean Adams will be ready for the opening game. He hasn’t played since he tore the quadriceps tendon in his leg 11 months ago in the Seahawks’ first game of the 2022 season.
Seattle has two trusted safeties to begin the season: Pro Bowl veteran Quandre Diggs and versatile Julian Love, signed this offseason from the New York Giants.
Matt Landers’ bad timing
An undrafted rookie getting hurt is never a good thing for him.
Matt Landers is especially frustrated by his injury.
The wide receiver from Arkansas with 4.37 speed was impressing coaches in practices last week. Then he strained his groin. Now it’s affecting his adductor muscle. He remains out. He did some hurdler-like leg raises and caught passes from backup quarterbacks Drew Lock and Holton Ahlers far behind the huddle during scrimmaging Tuesday.
Top rookie wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba is having wrist surgery. Cody Thompson is out with an injured shoulder. Dareke Young may be having abdominal surgery. Cade Johnson is still coming back from a concussion two weeks ago.
Yet Landers is missing practices, missing a chance to make the team.
“The trainers are concerned about it because it’s kind of a hidden thing that you won’t know until you open up and go so he’s running and doing stuff,” Carroll said. “He’s close. I really would like to get him back. He’s made a really good impression in camp and I would like to see where he fits in the whole thing.
“Might be a little frustrated by that.”
Cade Johnson back on the field
It was remarkable to see Johnson catching punts and passes in practice Tuesday.
Carroll thinks Johnson may play Saturday at Green Bay.
Tuesday was 12 days after he left Lumen Field strapped to a stretcher with his head and neck immobilized. Tests at Harborview Medical Center that night of the first preseason game ruled out head and neck injuries and ruled Johnson had a concussion.
Blazers’ Chauncey Billups visits
The Seahawks’ kinship with the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers showed up again. Blazers coach Chauncey Billups visited Seahawks practice for the first time.
Seahawks chair Jody Allen also owns the TrailBlazers, as head of the estate of the late Seahawks and Blazers owner Paul Allen, her brother.
Carroll called his day with Billups the “beginning of a beautiful relationship.”
“We had a really fun day together, hanging out all morning. It was cool,” Carroll said of Billups, a former Colorado basketball star and third-overall pick in the 1997 NBA draft.
Billups is 25 years younger than the 71-year-old Carroll. He played 17 NBA seasons for seven teams before becoming a coach.
No, Carroll did not challenge Billups to a shooting contest on the multiple basketball hoops that are inside and outside the Seahawks’ facility.
“That challenge was in the air,” Carroll said, “but Chauncey has a bad wrist. He came in with his wrist braced up. So it was really easy for me to challenge him.
“We were in the office just watching film and doing stuff all day long. This is the first time I’ve been around him, and I’ve always admired the great competitor that he was. It’s so obvious he’s tough as hell and he’s got great expectations for how his club is going to play.”
Extra points
- Starting right tackle Abe Lucas missed practice with what Carroll said was a “camp knee,” meaning soreness from four weeks of practices. Jake Curhan and Stone Forsythe alternated in Lucas’ spot.
- Reserve linebacker and special-teams player Vi Jones may go on an injured list to begin the season. He has a “legit” high-ankle sprain. In Carroll-speak, a “legit” injury usually means a lengthy absence of multiple months.
- Carroll said rookie running back Kenny McIntosh is getting close to returning from the sprained knee he got Aug. 4. The seventh-round pick might practice next week. McIntosh came out onto the field from the training room about 30 minutes into practice. He jogged past Carroll and gave his coach a fist bump.
- The team practices Wednesday and Thursday in Renton before traveling to Wisconsin Friday.
