RENTON – On the final snap of Wednesday’s practice, Seahawks tight end Colby Parkinson ran a route downfield and, after the play, jogged back behind the line of scrimmage. He immediately sat down on the grass and grabbed his foot.
Two days later, coach Pete Carroll confirmed the worst fears about the tight end’s injury: Parkinson suffered another broken foot on the play.
Carroll did not provided a timeline, but the second-year tight end out of Stanford is expected to be out for an extended period.
“It’s going to be a bit,” Carroll said.
It’s the same injury – a broken fifth metatarsal – that Parkinson suffered in the summer of 2020 while working out on his own. He still has a screw in that spot in his foot, Carroll said.
The news is especially discouraging for the Seahawks because the 6-foot-7 Parkinson was perhaps the No. 1 breakout player on offense during the first two weeks of training camp – emerging as a favorite target of quarterback Russell Wilson in the middle of the field.
“It’s really disappointing,” Carroll said Friday afternoon, “because he was having a fantastic camp.”
The good news, Carroll said, is that the injury is “way better” than initial break from May 2020. What exactly that means is not entirely clear.
The team is seeking multiple opinions on Parkinson’s foot and how best to proceed, Carroll added.
Parkinson, a fourth-round pick in 2020, had surgery on his foot on June 2, 2020. He missed all of training camp last summer and was spent first six games of the 2020 season on the non-football injury list. He was activated on Oct. 31 and played in six games as a reserve tight end (he inactive for four games).
Parkinson this summer spent extra time with Wilson one-on-one at the QB’s home in San Diego, and the new connection was already paying off for the offense early in camp.
Earlier this week, Wilson praised Parkinson for his “exceptional” work in camp.
Tight was seen as a position of strength for the Seahawks in training camp.
Seattle signed veteran free-agent Gerald Everett away from the Rams to be their No. 1 tight end while installing a new offense they’re borrowing from the Rams. Fan favorite Will Dissly has looked healthy and productive in camp so far too, but the expectation now is the Seahawks might have to bring in another tight end for depth.
The team has another injury at tight end: Tyler Mabry, a 2020 undrafted free agent out of Maryland, has been sidelined with a sprained foot.
The only other tight ends on the roster are 2021 undrafted free agents Cam Sutton (Fresno State) and Dominick Wood-Anderson (Tennessee).
Eskridge, Penny progressing
There was a bit of encouraging injury news.
Carroll said there’s “a really good chance” that rookie receiver Dee Eskridge and running back Travis Homer will be activated off the physically unable to perform list next week.
Status quo, still, for Adams and Brown
Nothing new here to report, as of early Friday afternoon, on the status of hold-ins Jamal Adams and Duane Brown.
Neither Adams nor Brown were on the field for the team’s walk-through practice mid-day Friday. The team was scheduled to fly to Las Vegas later in the afternoon, ahead of the first preseason game Saturday night against the Raiders.
Carroll was asked Friday, hypothetically, what would happen if Adams doesn’t sign a new contract before the Sept. 12 regular-season opener at Indianapolis.
“I’m not even thinking about that at all. I don’t know,” he said. “I can’t even imagine that.”
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