RENTON — Back from a long weekend of needed rest, the Seattle Seahawks began life without Richard Sherman on Tuesday.
It was noticeably different for those who have become accustomed to hearing the cornerback’s voice on a daily basis.
“Just his energy, his passion, his trash talking is definitely going to be missed,” Seattle linebacker Bobby Wagner said. “But I’m positive he’s going to find a way to talk trash on the sideline.”
For the first time since before he was drafted, the Seahawks started a week of preparations knowing Sherman would not play after he tore the Achilles tendon in his right foot during last Thursday’s win over Arizona. For as much as his mouth and some of his antics have drawn attention, Sherman has been an extremely reliable cog in Seattle’s secondary since his first game during the 2011 season. His streak of 109 consecutive starts — playoffs included — will end next Monday when he’s a spectator as his teammates host Atlanta.
Seattle’s adjustment to not having Sherman started Tuesday, but will really get going Thursday when preparations for facing the Falcons get started. The team signed Byron Maxwell, who was released by Miami last month after losing his starting job but knows Seattle’s system after starting his career with the Seahawks. Maxwell will provide depth behind Jeremy Lane and Shaquill Griffin, the expected starters at cornerback with Sherman out.
For Lane, it’s another chapter in a strange few weeks that saw him initially traded to Houston as part of the Duane Brown deal. Lane failed his physical with the Texans and was returned to the Seahawks. Lane said he was gone from the Seahawks for barely a day and that returning to the team was not awkward.
“It was crazy. A very emotional roller coaster. I had to stay mentally strong for it, but other than that it worked out,” he said.
While Lane and Griffin will get the bulk of the work, picking up Maxwell is a big benefit at this point of the season. Rather than trying to teach someone Seattle’s defensive system or bring up an inexperienced player from the practice squad, the Seahawks landed a veteran who knows their system and should be able to help sooner than later.
Maxwell, cut by the Dolphins on Oct. 24, said the only other team that reached out to him after his release was the Falcons.
“Definitely I was thinking I would get a call before this, in a week or two, but for whatever reason I didn’t,” he said.
While much of the attention was on Seattle’s defensive adjustments without Sherman, the team was also answering questions from the NFL about how it handled Russell Wilson’s possible concussion evaluation after the quarterback took a hit to the jaw in the third quarter of last week’s game. Referee Walt Anderson sent Wilson off the field. But he was in Seattle’s injury tent for only a few moments and missed just one play.
Seattle coach Pete Carroll said the team is cooperating with the league’s review and deferred to the NFL about whether Wilson was given a proper evaluation.
“I need to see what they think about that,” Carroll said. “I just know what I was told during the game and we are going to unveil all of that and talk our way through it and (with the) referee and all that and figure it out, so I really can’t give you any details right now. But we should know more in a couple days I think.”
Notes
Seattle placed RB C.J. Prosise on injured reserve due to a high ankle sprain, but he might be able to come back this season. Carroll said it’s about a six-week recovery for Prosise, putting him on a similar potential time frame for a return as RB Chris Carson. Seattle signed RB Mike Davis from the practice squad. … SS Kam Chancellor was seeing doctors to determine the severity of a stinger sustained late in the win over Arizona. “We want to make sure he’ll be OK. It will be a couple of days before we know,” Carroll said.
