Seahawks Notebook: Darrell Taylor sprained shoulder, Zach Charbonnet returns to practice
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JANUARY 01: Darrell Taylor #52 of the Seattle Seahawks celebrates on the field after a win over the New York Jets at Lumen Field on January 01, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
RENTON, Wash. - Linebacker Darrell Taylor had his left arm in a sling during practice on Thursday for the Seattle Seahawks as the fourth-year pass rusher is dealing with a sprained shoulder sustained earlier this week.
Head coach Pete Carroll said after practice that Taylor was hurt while landing on his shoulder during practice on Tuesday.
"He sprained his shoulder," Carroll said. We've got to wait to figure out how long it's going to take. It's not a surgery, not requiring a surgery. But we've just got to see how he responds. He felt way better today than he did yesterday. And so that's a good early thought."
Carroll said that he thinks Taylor hit the ground awkwardly, which caused the injury to occur. Taylor was back out on the sidelines for the end of practice and had removed the sling from his arm before the session concluded.
Taylor is entering an important campaign this year, both for himself and the Seahawks. Taylor is set to become a restricted free agent at the end of the season after missing his rookie year due to ongoing rehab from a surgery in college. Taylor is in the top 30 in sacks across the NFL with 16.0 over the last two seasons. However, Taylor has been a fairly one-dimensional player at times and needs to be more consistent to see his playing time increase from the 44-46 percent of defensive snaps he's played in his two years with the Seahawks.
With Taylor set to miss some time, it will provide an opportunity for second-year pass rushers Boye Mafe and Tyreke Smith to get more chances to shine.
Mafe had three sacks as a rookie last year with 41 tackles as a rotational piece for Seattle's defense. Smith was unable to play at all as injuries limited to just two practices after training camp got underway.
Carroll has been impressed by Mafe's performance early in camp.
"Mafe probably appears to be the most improved guy from last year," Carroll said. "It’s really early but, he’s shown so many bright moments out here run and pass. If you talked to Boye, he’ll tell you the difference between where his mind is compared to last year, he can't even imagine how he played last year. He felt like he knew so little compared to what he is aware of now. That’s the sophomore jump we’re talking about. He’s really made it. So, I'm hoping that it will continue, and right now he is battling to be one of the featured rushers as well as be a feature guy on early downs too, so he’s doing great."
Meanwhile, running back Zach Charbonnet was back at practice for the first time since Day 2 of training camp. Charbonnet had been sidelined with a shoulder issue that was examined by team doctors over the last week. Those evaluations turned out fine and Charbonnet returned to action.
"Zach Charbonnet got back to it. It was really cool to see him get back out on the field. We are really happy about that," Carroll said.
Charbonnet is expected to take part in the team's "mock game" scrimmage at Lumen Field on Friday night.
With Charbonnet, linebacker Devin Bush and tight end Noah Gindorff all back at practice on Thursday, running back Ken Walker III and Taylor were the only two players outside of the physically unable to perform list to miss practice.
Walker has been out since the first day of camp due to a groin strain that the team is being extremely cautious about at this stage of the preseason.
"With a running back that’s got to sprint and do the things that he does," Carroll said. "We just have to make sure that it goes away before we get him back out. It’s not a serious injury. It didn’t show a ton on MRI, but we got to take care of him. This is the kind of thing we worry about being a nagging type of injury. We don’t want that to happen. So, we’re going to be over cautious right now this early in camp."
And when it comes to the five players still on the PUP list, Carroll said all of them – CB Tariq Woolen, SS Jamal Adams, LB Jordyn Brooks, NT Bryan Mone, and NT Austin Faoliu – have healed from their injuries and are now working on getting into football shape to where they can stay on the field when they return.
"All of our PUP guys are making positive progress," Carroll said. "There hasn’t been any setback for any of the guys. It’s just a matter of when they can maintain a really high level, speed-wise and explosion-wise, over a long period of time before we cut them loose. Now they’re ok. They’re healed now. Now is getting them into football shape and guaranteeing that before we put them out there."
Carroll expanded on the topic when asked specifically about Adams and Brooks.
"It’s about football conditioning," he said. "It’s not ‘now I’m in shape, I can run’, that’s not enough. We have to get them out here where they can endure the riggers of the practice before we ever put them on the field. As things become unpredictable, and the movement and all the bodies get around, we have to have them in magnificent shape to do that. We have time. Their attitudes are great. They’re pressing, pushing, and competing with each other. It’s just a matter of time before we’ll get this done."