By Gregg Bell / The News Tribune
RENTON — If a position with as big and beefy of men as defensive tackle can be thin, that’s what the Seattle Seahawks already were.
They got thinner Friday.
Jarran Reed left the third practice of training camp during position drills, appearing to have an issue in the lower leg or foot early in the no-pads practice.
Reed signed a two-year contract extension this offseason. The deal is worth $23 million.
Fellow starting defensive tackle Poona Ford departed at the end of position drills. He appeared to have an injury to his left calf.
Ford, a dynamo who’s been flying around the field for two seasons since the Seahawks signed him as an undrafted free agent from the University of Texas in 2018, strained his calf 11 months ago. He missed one game with that injury, Seattle’s Week 2 win at Pittsburgh last season.
Those double injuries Friday left the Seahawks without their only two returning starters on the defensive line.
The only healthy defensive tackles on the 79-man roster by the end of Friday’s practice were Bryan Mone, Cedrick Lattimore and Demarcus Christmas. Christmas, one of the team’s sixth-round draft choices in 2019, was injured his rookie season.
The starters for the beginning of position drills Friday were Ford and Christmas at tackle, with Rasheem Green and Benson Mayowa at end.
Brooks in the nickel
The starting linebackers in base 4-3 at the start of practice were Bruce Irvin at strongside, All-Pro Bobby Wagner in the middle and K.J. Wright on the weakside.
In nickel defense, rookie first-round draft choice Jordyn Brooks was next to Wagner at linebacker, with Marquise Blair as the fifth, nickel defensive back. That is likely to be the nickel arrangement for the opening game Sept. 13 at Atlanta.
Suffice to say Brooks is high on the coaches’ immediate plans for the defense.
Dunbar likely to practice Sunday
The starting secondary in base during position drills was Shaquill Griffin and Tre Flowers at cornerback, and Jamal Adams with Quandre Diggs at safety.
Quinton Dunbar, whom Seattle traded with Washington to get in March to challenge Flowers for the starting job opposite Griffin, has yet to practice. He was completing his COVID-19 testing protocol on Friday. He reported to camp last weekend from Miami, after Florida prosecutors dropped all charges he was facing for an alleged armed robbery there in May.
Dunbar is likely to practice for the first time Sunday.
The players have a day off from practicing Saturday, though they must still report to the team facility in the morning from ongoing, daily COVID-19 testing.
The team had its first 11-on-11, offense-versus-defense scrimmaging of camp Friday. Team practice reporting policies prohibit media from going into much detail on those drills.
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