Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll sought to ease concerns about Russell Okung’s high-ankle sprain, saying it’s “not the worst degree” of the injury he’s seen. Carroll wouldn’t set a timetable for the first round draft picks’ return, but sounds hopeful about Okung’s prognosis.
“It’s day-to-day, I hate to even think week-to-week,” Carroll said after Tuesday’s practice. “We’re going to just keep looking at him as we’re going through this. In terms of injuries, I don’t think he’s missed a game before or even a practice. So he doesn’t have any experience of having to come back from something so we’ll figure that out as we go.”
High-ankle sprains can be a dicey situation for NFL players, sometimes taking quite a while to fully heal. As a lineman, Okung can expect to take a pounding, with his knees and ankles taking the brunt of it. There’s no need to rush him back, only to risk further injury and stunt the left tackle of the future’s development even more.
In the meantime, Mansfield Wrotto steps in to a left tackle spot that has thinned out considerably due to injuries. The Hawks will use the rest of the preseason to determine a viable starter in Okung’s absence.
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