Pete Carroll mum on who will play for Seahawks in preseason opener

RENTON, Wash. - As he typically does this time of year, Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll was coy in his comments about who will (and won't) play in Thursday's preseason opener against the Minnesota Vikings.

Geno Smith? Bobby Wagner? Wait and see.

"This is the little bit of suspense I get to maintain so you'll have to find out at game time," Carroll said.

Carroll did say he'll want to see the rookies and new players to the team get a chance to show what they can do in preseason action.

"We need to see all of the new guys," he said. "We’ve got really competitive spots that we need information on. Everybody needs to play football and these games are hugely important. For the guys we haven’t had the chance to see before in our uniforms and playing for us, it’s crucial. They’ve got to show something. They’ve got to show that the buildup and all of the prep to get us to this point, we’ve taken every step in a fashion that’s in order. This next step is full running and hitting, and we have to see how it goes."

That group will likely include rookies such as Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Derick Hall and Zach Charbonnet, and veteran additions such as Evan Brown and Mario Edwards. However, you shouldn't expect to see key veterans like Smith, Tyler Lockett, DK Metcalf or Bobby Wagner play much, if at all, in the preseason opener.

However, there are several players that won't be able to play due to injuries as well, which included top draft pick Devon Witherspoon.

Witherspoon has a sore left hamstring that surfaced during practice on Monday. It's the same leg, but a different location, that Witherspoon had a hamstring strain in over the offseason that limited his work in OTAs.

"It doesn’t seem serious. He’s moving around and all of that, but we have to be careful there," Carroll said.

While Carroll didn't definitively say who won't play, cornerback Riq Woolen (knee), safety Joey Blount (back), linebackers Vi Jones (ankle) and Darrell Taylor (shoulder), running backs Ken Walker III (groin) and Kenny McIntosh (knee), and wide receiver Dareke Young (hip/groin) haven't been practicing and aren't expected to play.

Safety Jamal Adams (quad), linebacker Jordyn Brooks (knee), and nose tackles Bryan Mone (knee) and Austin Faoliu (knee) remain on the physically unable to perform list and aren't available either.

Woolen is easing back in to action through work in walkthroughs after coming off the PUP list on Sunday.

Blount was hurt in Monday's practice and had to be carted off the field with an injury the team thought could be serious. He landed hard on his knee diving for a ball out of the end zone and the impact jammed his hip, Carroll explained.

"We were really worried about it, but he just found out yesterday that everything is fine," he said. "He’s got a sore lower back, that’s from the jolt. No damage at all and we’ll see if we can get him back next week. Really pleased about that because we kind of went down the rabbit hole thinking that might be some nasty stuff. He made it through it, fortunately."

Jones has a "legit" ankle sprain and will be sidelined at least a couple of weeks.

Walker is back running straight ahead without issue after pulling his groin on the first day of training camp. He's expected to resume cutting in the coming days as he ramps his workload back up.

"The next thing is to get him cutting and swerving and all that," Carroll said. "That’s coming up in the next couple of days. Next week will be an interesting week to see how much he can do. I’d like to get him back on the practice field where’s he getting work."

Taylor is improving as well from the shoulder sprain that happened in practice last week.

"I’m really excited about Darrell," Carroll said. "I talked to him specifically yesterday afternoon about it. He’s really encouraged that he’s coming back and feeling more normal. We won’t know about that until he starts using the shoulder and punching and all that kind of stuff. But he does feel way better."

McIntosh's knee injury from Friday's "mock game" scrimmage isn't viewed as significant, but he's not back to practice yet. 

Young has been sidelined with a hip/groin injury the last week or so.

"He’s starting to improve now," Carroll said. "It looks like he’s taking a little turn. Has not been determined if it’s a sports hernia, but it hasn’t been ruled out. We’re seeing how he comes back and if he can make it back."

Guard Damien Lewis missed two days of practice due to an illness, but he was back on the field for Friday's walkthrough.

The team also made a roster move on Wednesday by waiving injured linebacker Joshua Onujiogu and added nose tackle Anthony Montalvo. Onujiogu – a standout last preseason that spent most of the year on the practice squad – injured his elbow and might need surgery.

"He had a tendon issue in his elbow, in a couple of places," Carroll said. "It’s a serious injury that we have to make a determination on how we’re going to go about it. It’s one that you can have surgery or can not have surgery, and we’re trying to figure out what’s best for him."

Carroll said Adams and Brooks both continue to progress in their recoveries from injuries from last season. Carroll said both players are running and unrestricted in their workouts, but they need to continue to build back up so they're full-go when they return.

"(Adams) and Jordyn are both doing a ton of stuff," Carroll said. "They’re not held back at all. They’re not restricted. They’re doing full-speed workouts, direction changes, turning and running at full speed, and their long durations to try to guarantee their conditioning before we put them out there. We just have to do the right thing and make sure their confidence is there. We have logged enough time in the football movement stuff so that we know when they get out there, it’s not going to be anything new to them. We’re really going overboard to try to pull that together."

Now that most of the injury news is out of the way, Carroll said that quarterback Drew Lock will play a lot in the preseason for the Seahawks. Part of that dates back to last year and Lock catching COVID-19 prior to what would have been his chance to start the second preseason game in the battle for the starting job with Smith.

One rookie that hasn't received much discussion so far is guard Anthony Bradford.

Bradford has consistently been working the No. 2 offensive line at right guard. The fourth-round pick out of LSU drew plenty of praise from Carroll on Wednesday as he continues to develop through camp.

"I really like what he brings," Carroll said. "He weighed in at 342 (lbs.) this week and is moving his feet. He’s got really good coordination and body control. He moves really well. He probably had the best hit of the day on the comp day. When he gets settled in and we feel like he understands what he’s doing, he’s going to be competing to play. That’s how far he’s come already. He’s totally ready to compete to play in the game. We just have to see if he can learn his stuff and hold on to it. He’ll play a bunch in this game."

Wide receiver Dee Eskridge missed practice on Tuesday but was back for the team's workout on Wednesday. With Young sidelined, he'll get plenty of playing time along with Cody Thompson, Jake Bobo, Cade Johnson and others to make a case for a potential depth roster spot. The need for another receiver to show out was heightened with the news of Eskridge's pending six-game suspension to begin the season that was announced this week.

"It’s a good group, it’s a really good group," Carroll said. "Cody has just been tremendous for us in terms of doing things right. He knows all the spots. He can do anything, and he’s been a factor on special teams as well. He’s going to get some good reps there, he can catch it, he can run, he can run routes, he knows the system, and he’s a good blocker. He’s all of that so, excited to see how that all works out."