Seahawks’ McKissic returns to practice

By Bob Condotta

The Seattle Times

Seahawks running back J.D. McKissic officially returned to practice on Monday after having been on Injured Reserve all season due to a broken foot suffered in August.

McKissic can now practice with the Seahawks for three weeks before the team has to make a decision to either place him on the 53-man roster or leave him on IR for the rest of the season (a decision can be made at any time in the next three weeks, but the team has at least three weeks before it has to make a choice).

Teams can declare two players each year who are on IR as returning to practice and then back to the active roster, but only if that player was placed on IR after the initial cutdown of rosters to 53.

For Seattle, the only other two players who appear to qualify for that are tight end Will Dissly and safety Earl Thomas, who each have been regarded as out for the regular season (there was one report Thomas could theoretically be ready by February, which would mean maybe for the Super Bowl, which is Feb. 3 in Atlanta. Dissly won’t be ready until next season).

McKissic was a regular in Seattle’s running back rotation last season with 187 yards on 46 carries and also had 34 receptions for 266 yards — fifth-most on the team — scoring three touchdowns overall.

McKissic played primarily receiver at Arkansas State and he has most-often been used as a third-down/two-minute back in his time with Seattle, a job that makes heavy use of his receiving ability. He also has been a key special teams player for Seattle since joining the Seahawks in 2016, last year playing 106 snaps on special teams (along with 287 on offense). McKissic went on IR after breaking a bone in his foot in the preseason. But he stayed on the initial 53-man roster so that Seattle would have the option to bring him back later in the season and was placed on IR on Sept. 3.

Seattle has four other tailbacks on its roster — Chris Carson, Mike Davis, Rashaad Penny and C.J. Prosise. Barring an injury, when McKissic comes back Seattle will likely have to decide whether to keep five tailbacks and release a player at another spot or to waive one of the tailbacks, with Prosise the only logical option to cut since he has just one carry this season and has been inactive four of the past six weeks.

Prosise, though, was a third-round pick in 2016 and coach Pete Carroll continues to state that the team views him as part of Seattle’s future despite his limited use this year and well-chronicled history of injuries that limited him to playing just 11 of 32 games in his first two seasons with Seattle.

Prosise has been considered healthy enough to play the last month, even though he was active for just the Detroit and L.A. Rams game since September.

“We’ll just wait it all out, figure it out and have to make some tough decisions,” Carroll said Friday. “It really bothers me that C.J. is not part of this because C.J. is worthy of being a part of it. It’s just kind of the rotations and how it’s fitted together. … J.D. McKissic is going to come back to practice this week for the first time so he’ll have a chance to see what he can do to make it more confusing and challenging. But that’s a good thing.”

If Seattle wanted to keep all of its tailbacks, another possibility to make room is waiving Malik Turner, who was added to the 53-man roster the week of the Chargers game, giving Seattle five players listed as receivers. Turner has played just 12 snaps on offense — nine coming on Thursday against the Packers — and McKissic’s background as a receiver (as well as that of Prosise, who also played a lot of receiver in college at Notre Dame) could mean Seattle could view either of them as able to play that spot in a pinch, if needed.

Notes: Weakside linebacker Mychal Kendricks is also allowed to return to the team this week after being suspended for eight games. He cannot play until Dec. 10 against Minnesota, meaning he will miss the next two games.

As with McKissic, Seattle will have to waive someone off the 53-man roster to make room for Kendricks once he returns.