A day after the Seahawks placed defensive tackle Brandon Mebane on injured reserve, they made it official that another key player was out for the season, placing tight end Zach Miller on injured reserve.
Miller played in Seattle’s first three games, then had surgery on his ankle during the bye week with hopes that he would be back this season, but he never made the progress he and the team were hoping for in his recovery, and now Miller is headed for another surgery.
“It didn’t really respond the way we had hoped, so that’s going take him off the roster for now, so that’s why we went out and got (RaShaun Allen) back,” Carroll said.
Carroll said Miller was “Pretty matter-of-fact about it. He doesn’t feel right. He’s not ready, it’s not like he’s really close to getting back. It’s just been a long process. He had a nasty ankle, and they were hoping to not do a really big surgery to give him a chance to be able to play this year, and it just isn’t that way. So they’ll have to do the final work there and get him set up for next year.”
The more encouraging news at that position is that tight end Luke Willson, who missed last week’s game with an ankle injury, is recovering fast and has a chance to play.
“Luke went through walkthrough and looked very good,” Carroll said. “…He’s very encouraged that he’ll be able to play. He’ll have to show it by the end of the week here. He’ll go very light today, but he has been an extremely fast healer in some other things, so maybe he’s doing it again.”
The Seahawks will also be relying on recently-signed veteran tight end Tony Moeaki this week after he was inactive last week having only gone through a few days of practice.
“Tony’s got to step up now and jump right in there,” Carroll said. “We kept him out last week just because we thought it was just too soon. It’s still early, it’s still really quick to put a guy in there and expect him to do everything, but he is a veteran, he does understand it, he’s picked things up really well. He’s had a really good 10 days with us so far, and we’ll see how far he can take it. But we’re counting on him to play.”
Tight end Cooper Helfet, who Carroll had said was banged up after the game, should be OK this week.
On Mebane’s injury, Carroll said, “He tore his hamstring really drastically. It’s a big-time injury for him, so he’s going to miss the season, and he’ll have to get fixed up.”
The loss is a big one, Carroll acknowledged, saying, “He just seemed to be more consistent being a factor, making plays, penetrating. It’s not always the tackles that he makes, but it’s the plays that he forces because he’s got great penetration, and the ball gets bounced around and other guys make tackles. He had a great offseason and reported in probably the best shape he’s ever been in for us, and it showed. He was very, very consistent.”
Kevin Williams will step into Mebane’s starting role in the base defense, but expect Jordan Hill and Tony McDaniel to also see their workload increase now. Fullback Will Tukuafu told reporters Wednesday that he’ll be doing work with the defensive line, something he did at times in San Francisco.
“We’re going to mix Tony and Kevin at the tackle spots, and Jordan Hill will play as well,” Carroll said. “Kevin will start there, but we expect a real active rotation and we’ll move those guys in and out.”
On Kam Chancellor and Malcolm Smith, Carroll said, “Both those guys are out there, they’ll both practice today.”
Middle linebacker Bobby Wagner, who is still recovering from turf toe, is unlikely to play this week, but has a good chance to get back next week.
“He’s running, and I think he’s doing some change-of-direction stuff today to find out how far along he is,” Carroll said. “He’s really excited about getting back. I don’t know if he can make it this week or not, but this really sets him if he can get through the process this week, he should be in good shape for a chance to get back next week.”
Speaking of linebackers, the Seahawks signed Allen Bradford, who has spent time with them as both a linebacker and a running back in the past, both on the practice squad and briefly on the active roster. Bradford will work at linebacker this time around, and could help out on special teams as well. Bradford could be needed for depth this week as well because Carroll said Brock Coyle “played banged up last week.” It’s hard to imagine Bradford would start in place of Coyle if Coyle can’t play, but he could be a backup option at middle linebacker if they were to move K.J. Wright back to middle linebacker now that Smith is likely back and with Kevin Pierre-Louis has been playing well.
Finally, one non-injury note, Carroll was asked about a recent reports that the team had reached out to retired WR Randy Moss. One suggested that happened last year, another said the Seahawks reached out after the Percy Harvin trade this year.
“That never happened,” Carroll said.
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