David Moore to miss start of season with shoulder injury

Seattle Seahawks v Carolina Panthers

RENTON -- Seahawks receiver David Moore will miss the start of the regular season due to a shoulder injury sustained in practice on Thursday.

Head coach Pete Carroll said Friday that Moore will be out "a while" and will not be ready for the start of the season Sept. 8 against the Cincinnati Bengals.

"David hurt his shoulder and he's going to be out for a bit. I'll let you know more when I know more about it," Carroll said.

According to Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network, Moore is getting a second opinion on the injury, which is not expected to require surgery. Nevertheless, the injury brings more uncertainty to a position that was already among the more intriguing groups in training camp.

Depending on the severity of Moore's injury and the anticipated recovery time, the Seahawks may be forced to keep an extra wide receiver on the roster in the short-term or find a way to get Moore to the injured reserve with the chance to return after eight weeks. For a player placed on injured reserve to become eligible to return, he must be a part of the active 53-man roster first. So, the Seahawks would need to keep Moore on the roster during roster cuts and then move him to injured reserve the following day, which would mean potentially exposing a player they'd like to keep in that roster spot to waivers. That may not be necessary if Moore could make it back within the first couple of weeks of the season.

However, it makes the final two preseason games and the battle for roster spots at wide receiver that much more interesting. Gary Jennings, John Ursua, Keenan Reynolds, Malik Turner, Jazz Ferguson and Terry Wright will all get ample opportunities to show they can help the team while Moore is sidelined.

"It would be really good for Gary to get a lot of (playing time) and we're hoping to do that," Carroll said of Jennings specifically. "He's played a lot of plays so far. The ball hasn't gone his way. We'll see how he does. He had a solid week for us but opportunities are knocking and so this is a good chance for him the next couple weeks to make a statement."

Tyler Lockett, Jaron Brown and DK Metcalf are the three receivers that appeared firmly locked into their positions on the roster. Moore would have been among that group as well before the shoulder injury. His status with the team shouldn't be in doubt, but how they manage him on the roster could be.

Metcalf is progressing in his return from a minor near surgery on Tuesday. Carroll said he expects Metcalf to be back involved next week.

"The reports... no swelling at all," Carroll said. "He's really on track to really make a great recovery. He reported in incredible shape and so we all think he's (not) going to lose much in a couple weeks and he'll be active next week for sure and doing a lot of stuff. He's making a great recovery so we'll keep our fingers crossed that he can make it back quickly."

With Moore definitively out for Week 1 and Metcalf's availability still in question, the Seahawks have more questions to answer at the position over the next two preseason games than they had anticipated. The trimming of the roster from 90 to 53 players is just over a week away and a lot remains to be determined between now and then.

Ziggy Ansah could return to practice next week:

Another area of the roster with uncertainty has been defensive end. Since the trade of Frank Clark to Kansas City in April, the Seahawks have appeared rather underwhelming in regards to proven production from the position. The signing of Ezekiel Ansah in May helped ease some of those concerns, but Ansah has been unable to practice up until this point as he recovered from offseason shoulder surgery.

That shoulder is now good to go and Ansah could return to the practice fields next week.

"I do think he has a chance of practicing next week. That's the way we're talking," Carroll said. "He's progressed to the point where we think that that's possible. I think it's really important. Hopefully we can put that together. If he has to do that in one week's time, we will but we'd like to get two weeks under his belt. He's been running every day, he's been wearing his stuff and all that but he needs to get in with the drill work and all that."

While the shoulder is no longer an issue, a minor groin injury is. Ansah tweaked his groin in workouts last week, which served as a minor setback in his recovery. The team is now making sure he's fully beyond that issue before putting him on the field.

"His shoulder is fine," Carroll said. "His shoulder is back. He's as strong as he's ever been. He came flying back in the last 3-4 weeks in that regard so he's fine there so it's just a matter of getting the groin to quiet down so it doesn't reoccur."

Ansah has been participating in the team's walkthrough periods for weeks. It's the reason he didn't begin training camp on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list. He's been able to take part in the throttled down sessions and avoid putting any undue strain on his recovering shoulder in the interim.

"He understands our system," Carroll said. "He's an experienced player, makes sense to him. He makes the calls, understands what we're doing. He gets over 40 reps a day out there in walkthrough and so we know that he's coming along system wise. He still needs to get the physical work and getting banging and all of that but no problem with him coming along with us."

Injury Updates:

-- Tackles George Fant (ankle) and Jamarco Jones (hip flexor), and guard Mike Iupati (calf/foot) won't play Saturday night against the Los Angeles Chargers but all are progressing and should be available for the start of the season.

Carroll said they would hold Jones out of Saturday's game with the intention of making sure he's fully ready for the final preseason game against the Oakland Raiders next Thursday.

"We think it's important to not play him this week so that he can play next week and make sure that he's back," Carroll said. "He came back and just didn't quite get over the hump so we're going to give him an extra day, an extra game, to make sure he's ready. He's done a lot of good stuff for us. We feel like we have a good evaluation on Jamarco but he needs the play time and so we want to just guarantee... we think by doing this we'll guarantee he'll be ready for Week 1."

Iupati returned to work in team walkthrough on Thursday and is expected to be back at practice next week. Iupati had been sitting out with a food sprain and then also pulled his calf, which has kept him out a bit longer.

"Next week is a real shot for him to be getting some more work," Carroll said. "He'll certainly make it back for the opener barring setbacks. It's good to see him out there just for the continuity. Yesterday we recognized it's just fun to have that guy out there cause of his experience and the connection with the starters."

Fant is continuing to recover from the ankle sprain sustained in the preseason opener against Denver.

"George is chomping at the bit. He's really close," Carroll said. 'Next week will be important. We won't push him to play next week unless it's really obvious but we would like to see him work next week. ... We really think that he's getting back for the opener. We don't have any question about that."

-- Running back/return specialist J.D. McKissic and safety Lano Hill will each get their first action of the preseason on Saturday. McKissic has been dealing with a foot sprain while Hill began camp on the PUP list while recovering from the hip fracture that ended last season.

"He played so well at the end of the season last year our hopes were really high for him to be a big factor and play time and the flexibility it seems that he can do and all that," Carroll said of Hill. "He's had two really good weeks and so this is the first action he gets. We'll guard his plays a little bit but it's really important that he gets a chance to make a statement about where he fits in in the competition and all. We really like the style of play that he brings and the toughness and speed and all that. He's had good work so he's ready to go."

-- Linebacker Shaquem Griffin (bruised knee), safety Marquise Blair (bruised back) and running back Bo Scarbrough (groin) won't play against the Chargers.

-- Quarterback Geno Smith will handle all the backup duties this week with Paxton Lynch out due to a concussion and starter Russell Wilson set to play approximately a half.

"He's fine. Geno took all the snaps this week. He's ready to go. He'll play a good amount. It's his turn now. With Pax getting all the reps last week this is really Geno's shot this week."

-- Defensive end L.J. Collier is running again as he works back from an "unusual" ankle sprain that occurred early in training camp. Carroll indicated that Collier could be physically ready around the start of the season.

"He's on the ground running," Carroll said. "Next week he should be changing direction and it should be a really big week for him next week. I've seen him out here bouncing around pretty good and it looks like he's ready to come back. We've taken really care throughout and we don't want to rush it at this point because it looks like he's clear to return here soon. So we'll see if we can race back in the next two weeks."

-- Tight end Ed Dickson is still working back on knee surgery and isn't yet nearing a return to the field.

"Ed hasn't been able to do too much," Carroll said. "He's still a ways away. The trainers are happy with the progress but he's not out running around and all that yet."

Photo Credit: CHARLOTTE, NC - NOVEMBER 25: David Moore #83 of the Seattle Seahawks makes the game-tying touchdown catch against Corn Elder #35 of the Carolina Panthers during the fourth quarter of their game at Bank of America Stadium on November 25, 2018 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Seahawks won 30-27. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)


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