By Bob Condotta
The Seattle Times
RENTON — Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin has a knee issue that is “a little bit of a problem” and will be sidelined for at least a few more weeks, coach Pete Carroll said after Tuesday’s practice.
Baldwin took part in the first two days of training camp last Thursday and Friday but has watched from the sidelines the last three days with a wrap on his left leg.
Carroll said Baldwin came to camp with a sore knee and it was decided to give him time now to get the knee healed before the regular season.
“Working on taking care of a little bit of a sore knee coming into camp,” Carroll said. “And we are just going to give him a good break here to get started. Just take our time with it and be patient.”
Asked how much time, Carroll said “we’re going to give him a couple of weeks here before we bring him back out to make sure we ramp him back up properly. We came into camp a little bit off and just wanted to make sure we take care of him. We know exactly what is going on and he is doing some special treatments to make sure we are taking care of him and and want to bring him back into shape so we can really get him ready for the long haul.”
Carroll was otherwise vague about exactly what the issue is with Baldwin’s knee, saying only he has a knee issue when asked to elaborate.
Baldwin has fourth-longest active streak of consecutive starts among NFL receivers with 88 and ranks fourth in Seahawks’ history in receptions with 443, is expected to again lead a Seattle receiving corps that has undergone a significant makeover the last few years.
The Seahawks also have been without receivers David Moore, who has a hip issue, and Brandon Marshall, who continues to be limited while recovering from ankle and toe injuries. That has had Seattle usually going with a starting receiving duo of Tyler Lockett and Jaron Brown with Marcus Johnson as the third receiver the last few days.
Carroll also said defensive end Dion Jordan will be out a while with what he said is a “stress issue on his other leg” that is not related to the knee surgery he had in the spring. The NFL Network reported that Jordan has “a stress reaction in his shin” and that the Seahawks are being cautious to try to prevent it from becoming a stress fracture.
“He’s going to be a while,” Carroll said. “The word is it’s going to be a while. He’s got a little bit of healing to do so it’s going to be a while.”
Jordan is on the PUP (Physically Unable to Perform List) which allows him to go on the regular season PUP list if the injury lingers. Players can come off the PUP list at any time during the preseason. But if Jordan were to begin the regular season on the PUP list he would not be allowed to practice or play the first six weeks of the season. After the sixth week he could return to practice and the team would then have three weeks to either activate him or place him on Injured Reserve (the window to return to practice is from weeks 6-11).
The Seahawks gave Jordan a tender as a restricted free agent that pays him just over $1.9 million with the idea that he could help replace Michael Bennett after Jordan had four sacks in five games last season.
“That was a position we were really hoping he was going to be a factor,” Carroll said.
Asked if the Seahawks will need to “do some shopping” to add to the pass rush, Carroll said “we’re always shopping.”
One of the other pass rushers Seattle is counting on this season, Marcus Smith, sat out Tuesday with what Carroll said is a hamstring issue. But he seemed to indicate it is not a serious injury.
There did not appear to be any new significant injuries in Tuesday’s practice.
However, remaining absent is free safety Earl Thomas, who has now held out of five days of training camp — he could be fined up to $40,000 for each day missed.
Asked if there has been any communication between Thomas and the team, Carroll said simply “no.”
In an interview later Tuesday on The NFL Network, which made its annual training camp appearance at the VMAC, Carroll reiterated there have been no talks with Thomas since his holdout began.
“We did communicate a while back, but really there has been kind of a clear stance and so there hasn’t been much talk about it right now,” Carroll said. “We really miss Earl not being here. Wish he was here. He’s one of us and all that. We’re really going to work with the guys that we’ve got, the guys that are fired up to be out here playing with us. That’s really where our focus is right now.”
