A scary injury to defensive end Branden Jackson brought a premature end to the Seahawks mock game scrimmage at CenturyLink Field on Saturday afternoon.
Jackson came together with left tackle Cedric Ogbuehi before going down to the turf.
"It might have caught him in the chin with his helmet and it was like a knockout punch," head coach Pete Carroll said afterward.
Jackson was immediately attended to on the field by the team's medical staff and ultimately ended up being taken from the stadium in an ambulance for further evaluation. The move was considered to be precautionary.
"Branden Jackson got knocked out a little bit here," Carroll said. "It was just before halftime and all that so we called off the rest of the day just to honor our love for him. He's one of our all-time guys, favorite guys, and everybody wanted to make sure that we could send him as much (love) as we could possibly (do) to make sure he's OK. So we did.
"We took all of the precautions and took care of him and he had movement all that kind of stuff. But we still needed to do the right thing and totally take care of him until we know more."
The incident happened late in the second quarter of the team's scheduled game and after the lengthy stoppage, Carroll decided to put a wrap on the day's activities.
"I didn't think it was right to try to get everybody cranked back up again and go back out. We didn't need to do that. We had gotten enough done. We'll take the plays that we got and what we learned from it. We accomplished the things we needed to accomplish coming to the stadium," Carroll said.
"Everything went really well other than we got B.J. knocked out and that was just terribly unfortunate."
The team went through their full pregame routine of early stretching, positional drills and team drills prior to retreating to the locker room 30 minutes before the scheduled start time. They then came out of the tunnel and had the national anthem played before going to the opening kickoff. The plan was to simulate the game day experience as much as possible given the absence of preseason games this year.
Center Kyle Fuller suspended:
Seahawks center Kyle Fuller was suspended for two games by the NFL on Saturday for a violation of the league's substance-abuse policy.
Fuller spent most of last season on the team's practice squad before being promoted to the active roster in December. He is eligible to practice through the end of training camp and can continue going through all team activities until the rosters are set for the start of the regular season. He can return to the team after Seattle's Week 2 home opener against the New England Patriots.
Fuller was on hand and took part in the scrimmage Saturday afternoon.
Notes:
-- Running back Chris Carson was absent for the third straight day and is back home in Georgia. Carson had multiple members of his family recently pass away and is helping attend to the family's affairs. It was the same reason he missed the first several days of training camp as well.
-- Defensive tackle Poona Ford and linebacker Bruce Irvin did not take part in Saturday's session. Ford is dealing with a minor calf strain and is expected back at practice when the team returns to the field on Monday. Irvin has a minor hip flexor issue that has kept him out the last two days.
Stats:
The Seahawks released passing stats kept from the team's scrimmage. Geno Smith was a perfect 8 for 8, which included a passing touchdown to tight end Jacob Hollister.
Russell was 8 for 13 in his two drives and had a touchdown pass to D.K. Metcalf.
Tyler Lockett (4), Aaron Fuller (3), Greg Olsen and John Ursua (2) and Hollister, Metcalf, Phillip Dorsett, Travis Homer and Nick Bellore all caught passes. Bobby Wagner was credited with the lone sack and Jason Myers converted a 40-yard field goal and both extra point attempts he tried.
Photo Credit: SEATTLE, WA - DECEMBER 22: Running back Kenyan Drake #41 of the Arizona Cardinals is tackled by defensive end Branden Jackson #93 of the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field on December 22, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)