Seattle, WA- The wait is over for the start of the 2017 season for the Seattle Seahawks. On Sunday, which was a beautiful day in Seattle, the Seattle Seahawks started their first day of training camp, which has been sold out for three weeks. Many fans watched their favorite players run non-contact drills and watched how they interacted with each other. During the off-season there were many questions that were asked about internal problems within the team, but that was shut down in a press conference in which Seattle’s’ head coach Pete Carroll addressed and stated that they are family and there were no lingering issues.
Today, all of the players were happy to get out on the field and make this training camp a successful one. “I am so happy to just get out there and just play the game. I mean we have some talented players that can go out there and flat out play,” said Russell Wilson. I am glad that players are getting healthier and it is a blessing to just come out here do something you love.”
Outside of football, Wilson has enjoyed being a father and he was radiant when he told reporters about enjoying his family. “Family means everything to me. There is nothing like having that support system and just being there for them. I go out there and play for them, as well as my family on the field. It is something that I am grateful for.”
Health has been a key factor with the Seahawks last season. They lost Earl Thomas to a lower leg fracture, Luke Joeckel to a knee injury and Kam Chancellor to lingering ankle injuries. They struggled in the playoffs against the run and their secondary was getting beat up. Without Chancellor in the backfield, Seattle went from a 14th ranked defense to 24th, before their playoff run. However they are getting each of these players back and the Seahawks feels very confident that they can go back to playing Seahawks’ football and dominate on both sides of the field.
Today it was confirmed that rookie defensive tackle Malik McDowell will be place on IR for injuries sustained in a car accident. “Unfortunately, Malik McDowell was involved in a vehicular accident, in which he suffered an injury during the NFL break period,” the team said in a statement. “As a precautionary measure, Malik has remained back in Michigan under the care of physicians there. Our medical people have been in constant communication with his physicians, and they have been monitoring the situation. At this point, it is important for Malik to stay at home and rest. We consider this a long-term relationship and will do whatever is in the best interest of Malik. We look forward to Malik’s return to Seattle and will update you with any changes. We placed him on reserve/did not report today.”
McDowell responded via Twitter that he was all right and he will be returning to the team real soon. However Pete Carroll has no definite time with McDowell returning. “It’s challenging. He had extraordinarily high hopes to be here and be with us, and he’s not able to. So everything’s above board and cleared what we’re doing said Carroll.”
There has been speculation that he might be out for the entire season, but the Seahawks have no timeline on his health. They were pretty optimistic about what McDowell could bring to the table this season, but with this unexpected twist and turn, the Seahawks will have to find another person to fill in his spot.
It was just day one of camp, so it will be interesting to see when these players play at full speed with their pads on. How will they react with getting hit, because some of these players have not had any physical contact since they have been injured, so that is something that will be something intriguing in the next couple of weeks.
