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Brady HendersonESPN
RENTON, Wash. — Linebacker K.J. Wright‘s status for the Seattle Seahawks‘ regular-season opener sounds very much in doubt based on the estimated timetable coach Pete Carroll gave Wednesday.
That means rookie Shaquem Griffin is looking increasingly likely to fill in as Seattle’s weakside starter on Sept. 9 against the Broncos in Denver, if not for longer.
Carroll said “everything went really well” with Wright’s arthroscopic knee surgery, which was performed Monday, and that Wright has yet to return to the team. Asked how long Wright might be out, Carroll said: “They talked about a couple weeks. It was the most optimistic we could be.”
Two weeks from the date of the surgery would be one day after Seattle’s opener.
Carroll had no timetable on Wright’s return when he told reporters on Monday about the surgery, only saying that he wasn’t sure about Wright’s status for Week 1. Wright, an eighth-year veteran and a Pro Bowler in 2016, felt something in his knee following Seattle’s preseason loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Friday, according to Carroll.
“He didn’t get hit or anything or didn’t have an episode; just felt that maybe something wasn’t quite right and took a good look at it,” Carroll said Monday. “So we’re going to do a scope job and get him back really quick.”
Griffin has been working as Wright’s backup since Seattle chose him in the fifth round of April’s draft, making him the first player with one hand to be drafted in the NFL’s modern era. Carroll described it as “a bit of a race” for Griffin to learn a new position after playing strongside linebacker at Central Florida, but Carroll said Griffin has made “great progress” and that he played his best game of the preseason last week against the Vikings.
Griffin was credited with five tackles in that game, and he has 18 in the preseason, including a game-high nine in the opener against the Indianapolis Colts.
“I want to see him continue to get better and clean things up and make sure he’s really accountable,” Carroll said. “He’s a running-and-hitting guy. We ain’t worried about that. It’s just making sure he’s really playing the scheme really well and is really precise about all his fits and all that.”
With Wright entrenched as Seattle’s starter at least through this season — after which his contract is set to expire — Griffin’s only playing time on defense as a rookie was likely to come in a sub-package role or, as is the case here, an injury situation.
The Seahawks close out the preseason Thursday at home against the Oakland Raiders, which will give Griffin a chance to work alongside middle linebacker Bobby Wagner and the rest of Seattle’s No. 1 defense, including his twin brother, Shaquill Griffin, at left cornerback.
Carroll called it a “really important opportunity” for Griffin.
“We’d like to be able to use his speed and his range and all that, so he’s working really hard at it,” Carroll said. “He’s been a very astute worker, been a really sharp communicator and all that stuff. A lot of good things are positive, and now we’d just like to see him put it all together again. He’ll have another big week next week and we’ll hopefully add to that.”
Carroll revealed Wednesday that tight end Ed Dickson (quad) suffered a setback in his recovery, which puts his status for Week 1 in further doubt. Dickson has been on the non-football injury list since the start of training camp.
“I spent some time with him this morning just pushing to try to make this turn,” Carroll said. “He had an issue coming back that something else got aggravated, so it’s exasperated the problem of just returning where he can get in shape and all that. We’ll go at it, really, a couple days at a time to see how he does. I’m anxious to see what they said after his workout today and we’ll see, but he won’t make it for the game.”
Carroll said Byron Maxwell, who is competing for the right cornerback job, won’t play Thursday.
Tedric Thompson, Seattle’s projected starter at free safety, is expected to be ready for the opener after suffering a stinger and taking a hit to the ribs last week, Carroll said.