A recap of the day’s activities at Virginia Mason Athletic Center for Oct. 17:
FOCUS ON
Roy Lewis, Deon Butler and Cameron Morrah. These three have been on the physically unable to perform list since training camp opened in late July, and joined at the rehab schedule since then.
Each will begin practicing on Wednesday. They then have a three-week window before the Seahawks must decide whether to add them to the 53-man roster or place them on injured reserve.
Lewis, a cornerback, had knee surgery late last season. Butler, a wide receiver, had surgery to place a steel rod in his broken leg in December. Morrah, a tight end, had postseason toe surgery.
“At this point, there’s no reason to anticipate anything other than they’re back to practicing,” coach Pete Carroll said after practice. “If you can imagine, this is August for them. So Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and then playing a game on Sunday, that’s a tremendous amount to ask.”
Getting Lewis back, however, definitely would help because of the move today to place veteran cornerback Marcus Trufant on injured reserve with a back problem. Walter Thurmond will start on the left side for Trufant, but Lewis would provide another option to fill the nickel back spot that Thurmond has been playing.
“Three weeks doesn’t even seem like enough time when you think about it,” Carroll said. “We’re going to go for it. They’re going to practice a lot. We’ll get them a lot of work out here. It will boost what’s going on out here, which will be good.
“And hopefully those guys will be able to show where they fit in.”
IN ’N OUT
Linebacker Leroy Hill and backup center Lemuel Jeanpierre returned to practice and running back Marshawn Lynch was back on a limited basis after sitting out the two bye-week practices. But four starters continued to be sidelined: quarterback Tarvaris Jackson (pectoral), center Max Unger (foot), tight end Zach Miller (neck) and left guard Robert Gallery (groin).
Jackson is ahead of schedule, Carroll said, and did some light throwing on the side during practice.
“We’re just taking it one day at a time,” Carroll said of Jackson’s status for this week’s game. “We’ll just see what happens. But he has a chance.”
Charlie Whitehurst continued to quarterback the offense in practice and No. 3 QB Josh Portis is getting his most extensive practice time of the season running the scout team that works against the Seahawks defense.
Carroll expects Miller and Gallery to practice on Wednesday. Unger was out of the protective boot he was wearing last week, but Carroll said his heavy work in practice won’t come until Friday.
ROSTER MOVES
The Seahawks signed two players: defensive tackle Jason Shirley (6-5, 345), who was waived from the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad on Sept. 3; and linebacker Stephen Franklin (6-foot, 235), a rookie who also had been with the Bengals.
Shirley participated in the 85-minute bonus practice, but Franklin watched from the sideline.
The Seahawks noticed Shirley while looking at video of defensive tackle Clinton McDonald, another ex-Bengal who was acquired in an August trade for cornerback Kelly Jennings.
“Always having this liking for the really big guys, Jason surely caught our eye,” Carroll said. “We’re pleased to get him. To get another real healthy big guy at this time … we jumped at it.”
To clear roster spots, rush-end Jameson Konz were placed on injured reserve along with Trufant.
Allen Bradford, who was claimed off waivers last week, practiced with the team for the first time. He worked at running back and linebacker with the scout teams.
http://blog.seahawks.com/2011/10/17/monday-in-hawkville-51/
