CHENEY – The typical routine for the first practice after a preseason opener is for teams to stack their sideline with idle players.
Yet on Sunday, two days after their 34-15 win over the New Orleans Saints, the Seattle Seahawks had more players coming through the in-door than the out-door.
Defensive tackle Cedric Woodard, middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu, running back Maurice Morris and defensive lineman Ron Smith were back at practice after missing multiple days with injuries, and there is hope that they’ll be joined by several teammates by the end of the week.
Linebacker D.D. Lewis (concussion) and defensive tackle Rashad Moore (shoulder) are among those who might come back before next Monday night’s game against the Dallas Cowboys. In addition, safety Ken Hamlin could start taking part in contact drills this week. He worked with the No. 1 defense during an afternoon practice Sunday.
“We did get some of those guys back, which is good,” coach Mike Holmgren said. “They need to be back because this is a very competitive situation, and you don’t want to lose your spot because you’re in the training room.”
The injury list from Friday’s win over New Orleans was relatively short. Only fullback Tony Jackson (shoulder), defensive end Kevin Emanuel (leg) and cornerback Michael Harden (concussion) were unable to practice Sunday because of injuries suffered in the game. Rookie linebacker LeRoy Hill joined them on the sideline after aggravating a knee injury in the morning practice.
Cornerback Andre Dyson, who suffered a stinger in the preseason opener, was healthy enough to take part in Sunday’s morning workout but took the afternoon off.
Woodard also took the afternoon off after seeing his first action since the Jan. 8 playoff game. He underwent offseason knee surgery and had been held out of action all summer.
“I’m just trying to knock the rust off right now,” said Woodard, who is trying to hold off Marcus Tubbs and/or Chartric Darby for the starting spot he’s held for two consecutive seasons. “It’s just (about me) catching up to everybody else. They’re far ahead of me right now as far as being in football shape. I just have to get a couple bangs in me and get my body used to running into guys again.”
Woodard was relieved to be back at practice – he worked only in non-contact morning drills – but he wasn’t entirely optimistic afterward.
“I just wanted to go out and see how it felt, see how I could move,” he said. “It felt OK. It just felt OK. So I’ve got a little work to do.”
Morris and Tatupu were coming back from less serious injuries. Both had missed 10 days with hamstring problems.
“It felt good to get out there today,” said Tatupu, who is expected to challenge Niko Koutouvides for the starting job at middle linebacker. “… Right now, (Koutouvides) has the upper hand. He looks great out there, so no complaints with his game at all. I just look forward to getting my reps, and we’ll have at it from there.”
Morris re-joins a halfback position that is suddenly overflowing with healthy bodies. Things got so bad last week that only Kerry Carter and rookie Marquis Weeks were available to practice, but they have since been joined by Shaun Alexander, free-agent signee Dante Brown and Morris.
“This is the time where the team really needs to start clicking,” Morris said. “Even though we still have (three) preseason games, practice is when you try to get perfect. That’s when you start clicking, and you roll from there.”
As of Sunday, the only players who appeared likely to miss the Dallas game were wide receiver Alex Bannister and running back Jesse Lumsden. Hamlin, who started working on a limited basis last week after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery, could also be held out of game action another week. But there is a chance he’ll play against the Cowboys on Monday.
Holmgren is just happy to have some of his hobbled masses back.
“Certainly, this is going to go fast,” he said of the preseason. “We break camp on Saturday, and then we have two games in a very bang-bang order, then we’ve got the fourth (preseason) game, and you’re playing your regular season. … So missing this time is hard. It’s hard to make up this ground.”
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