RENTON, Wash. (AP) -The Seahawks weren’t thrilled with the play from their secondary last season.
Sure, they had Pro Bowl corner Marcus Trufant anchoring one side of the pass coverage, but the play from former top draft choices Josh Wilson and Kelly Jennings wasn’t what they were hoping for.
Jennings, the Seahawks’ first-round pick in the 2006 draft, always seemed to be running stride-for-stride with a receiver only to have the ball fall into the receiver’s hands while he fell to the ground, beaten yet again.
Wilson, the team’s top selection in the second round of the 2007 draft, was fifth on the team in tackles and had four interceptions starting opposite Trufant. But the 5-foot-9 corner struggled to keep the ball out of the hands of bigger receivers like Arizona’s Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin.
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But before training camp began, Trufant tweaked his back during back pedal drills with Wilson. Coach Jim Mora originally classified the injury as “minor.” Trufant was placed on the physically unable to perform list before training camp and hasn’t been able to practice with the team since.
When asked if Trufant was going to practice this week, Mora said the chances were “not good.”
The team will have to decide by Saturday whether to leave Trufant on the PUP list for the first six games of the season or activate him in hopes that he can play sooner.
“We won’t make that decision until we absolutely have to,” Mora said Monday. “We’ll do it with a lot of input from our doctors and with our training staff and Marcus himself. Hopefully it’s not a hard decision. Hopefully it’s a positive decision, but we’ll have to see.”
If Trufant isn’t available when the Seahawks open the regular season, Wilson and Jennings will each be called upon to help carry the load.
Wilson has been playing opposite of Lucas during the preseason and will likely start if Trufant can’t play.
for (Trufant), and Lucas has done a good job of playing the right corner, so we feel very solid about that and our top three corners.”
With Trufant out, the former top picks will have a chance to step in and make an impression that they were unable to make in previous seasons.
“It’s always opportunities like that you have to try and take advantage of,” said Jennings, who looks much improved this preseason in making the plays that he was unable make to last year. “Nobody wishes injuries on anybody, but when your name is called, you’ve got to try and step up and make plays.”
NOTES: The Seahawks waived WR Michael Bumpus to reach a league limit of having 75 players on the roster by Sept. 1. … Nine players sat out practice on Monday: Trufant (back/PUP), T Walter Jones (knee), C Chris Spencer (quad), QB Seneca Wallace (groin), WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh (soreness), WR Logan Payne (unspecified), CB Travis Fisher (hamstring), S C.J. Wallace (ribs) and G Cory Withrow (unspecified).
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