By John Boyle
Marshawn Lynch is the big story of the day, but that wasn’t all that happened at the VMAC today.
First a few injury updates, then we’ll get onto today’s on-field action.
TE Anthony McCoy was placed on injured reserve with a torn Achilles, his second torn Achilles in just over a year.
“It’s a heartbreaking injury, because he worked so hard to get back, he looked so good,” Carroll said. “He was the hardest working guy in the program to get back to where he could play, and his other Achilles goes. Just a real incidental step coming off the line of scrimmage, no contact, nothing involved at all, much like the last one. There was no way to predict that that would be there or that he would be vulnerable to that in any way, so it’s really disheartening for him.”
It sounds like there’s a chance defensive tackle Jesse Williams could end up on IR with McCoy because of what Carroll called “a serious knee situation.”
“He’s got a knee issue,” Carroll said. “I don’t have all of the details for you right now, but he’s got a serious situation we’ll have to take care of.”
“It’s a potential surgery, but I don’t know the details yet.”
A lot of other players were sidelined as well, but many just for rest such as starters like receivers Doug Baldwin and Percy Harvin, and defensive end Michael Bennett.
One of the reasons Carroll wants to get players rested is that they’re having a mock game on Saturday.
WR Kevin Norwood was out again with a sore foot: “His foot has not responded the way we’d hoped. It was OK today, but he’s not better, so we’re just going to try to quiet him down and see what to do next. He’s had MRIs and all that kind of stuff, there’s nothing we can do at this point, but we’re trying to find the right solution with footwear, orthotics and all the different things we can do to try to help his foot. At this point it’s really just one day at a time.”
And speaking of rookie receivers, Paul Richardson was out too: “He banged his shoulder, but he’ll be OK. He’ll be back in a day or so.”
Middle linebacker Bobby Wagner continues to sit with what Carroll called “a slight hamstring pull,” which he suffered Tuesday. Also out since leaving Tuesday’s practice early was James Carpenter who has, “a calf that just tightened up and we just don’t want to overdo him when we don’t have to.” Carroll said it’s only a matter of days until Carpenter returns.
Rookie DE Cassius Marsh, who has thus far been a standout of camp, was held out with what Carroll called, “A little bit of a groin thing that we just want to make sure doesn’t got the wrong way. He’s had a great camp so far. He’s had one of the biggest workloads, so we’re going to back off on him today and see how he does by Saturday.”
—All of the injured receivers and tight ends (Zach Miller was out too) meant a good chance for the team’s depth to shine, and once again Phil Bates had a strong day.
“The guy who’s had a great week is Phil Bates,” Carroll said. “He’s been active, he’s made a bunch of big plays. This is a culmination of a couple of years of work to get him to this point. Remember he adapted from quarterback and he has really shaped and sculpted his body. He looks like a receiver, he has all the movements now, and he’s a very tough competitor too, so we love what he’s doing. He’s had a great week.”
Just about every tight end, all of whom (besides Luke Willson, he’s pretty safe) are fighting for roster spots, seemed to make an impressive catch or two. Willson had a couple leaping grabs over the middle, Morrell Presley went up high to catch a pass over Heath Farwell, and RaShaun Allen caught a deep pass from Russell Wilson a the two-minute drill.
—For the second day in a row, Steven Hauschka hit a 57-yard field goal, though it barely cleared the uprights, so it might not be fair to call that his range on a windy 40-degree day in December.
—CB Akeem Auguste had one of the plays of the day, making a diving interception in the end zone on a pass intended for Jermaine Kearse.
