Bob Condotta
The Seattle Times
The Seahawks on Monday officially filled out their 10-man practice squad, announcing the signings of six other players, including former UW running back Lavon Coleman and quarterback Alex McGough.
Others signed to the practice squad are tight end Marcus Lucas — who was on Seattle’s practice squad in 2016 and in camp much of the following year and was in camp this year with the Lions — defensive end Frank Herron of LSU, who was waived by the Patriots over the weekend, linebacker Antwione Williams of Georgia Southern and offensive tackle Elijah Nkansah of Toledo. Williams also was in camp with Detroit and Nkansah was in camp with Tennessee.
Seattle on Sunday announced it had signed receivers Caleb Scott and Keenan Reynolds, cornerback Akeem King and offensive lineman Jordan Roos to its practice squad.
That means Seattle re-signed five players it waived over the weekend to its practice squad — Roos, Reynolds, King, Scott and McGough — while signing five other from other teams.
Eric Edholm of Yahoo.com reported the Seahawks are paying McGough an active player’s minimum salary — $480,000 — as an inducement to re-sign to the practice squad after Seattle last week traded for Brett Hundley to serve as the backup to Russell Wilson.
Practice squad players make at least $7,600 a week but teams can pay them more. However, all money paid to practice squad players counts against the salary cap.
Coleman was in camp with Houston before being waived over the weekend.
As a senior in 2017 at UW, the 5-foot-11, 225-pound Coleman rushed for 407 yards and four touchdowns on 89 carries. He also had three touchdown receptions for the Huskies.
McKissic to IR
The Seahawks have placed running back J.D. McKissic on Injured Reserve and claimed linebacker Jermaine Grace off waivers to take his place on the 53-man roster.
McKissic suffered a broken foot in practice midway through the preseason and it was initially reported he might only miss 2-4 weeks or so. But now McKissic will have to miss at least eight games. Two players a year who go on IR can return to their team after sitting out eight games. Teams no longer have to declare a player as an early return candidate, however.
That means the first game McKissic can play in this season is on Nov. 11 against the Rams in Los Angeles. He can return to practice after six weeks.
McKissic was one of five tailbacks on the roster. Seattle now has four, with C.J. Prosise in line to take on the bulk of the team’s third-down/two-minute back role, which was also one of McKissic’s prime responsibilities. Seattle also has fullback Tre Madden on its roster.
Grace was waived over the weekend by the Browns. He appears to be added depth at weakside linebacker where K.J. Wright may not be healthy to start the season with Shaquem Griffin likely starting against Denver. Seattle used Maurice Alexander as a backup WLB in the final preseason game against the Raiders but he was released leaving a void at that spot.
Grace played in 11 games as a rookie for the Colts and Falcons, making three tackles.
Wright is still recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery a week ago Monday. Coach Pete Carroll said the most optimistic outlook was that Wright would miss two weeks, which taken literally would mean he won’t play in Sunday’s season opener at Denver.
Thomas spotted in Seattle
Seahawks hold out Earl Thomas returned to Seattle Monday morning. But not for any football-related purposes.
Thomas was spotted at SeaTac International Airport at around 8:45 a.m., and took a photo with an airport worker.
But, per NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport, Thomas’ return to Seattle does not signify any advance in talks with the Seahawks. Instead, Thomas flew into Seattle to take his daughter to her first day of school.
Thomas did not report to the Seahawks when training camp began, and even though he has accumulated at least $1.5 million in potential fines from missing mandatory minicamp and preseason camp, he continues to hold out until he has a new contract.
Thomas, 29, remains on Seattle’s reserve/did not report list, and does not count against roster limits. The two sides have appeared in something of a stalemate for months, though somewhat intriguingly,on Friday evening, the day before the NFL required teams to cut their rosters to 53, reports emerged that the Seahawks had fielded inquiries from “multiple teams” about Thomas’ availability.
The Seahawks are said to want at least a second round draft pick in exchange for Thomas.
Thomas will lose game checks of $500,000 per week now that the regular season has begun. He would have until 24 hours before each game to report and be activated to play that week.
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