Seattle cornerback Marcus Trufant has been placed on the Injured Reserve, ending his season. Trufant's back injury was described last week as a 'bruised sacrum,' but now Pete Carroll has acknowleged that it was indeed related to the back issues Trufant had in 2009 that limited him to 10 games. Apparently it's serious enough that the Seahawks aren't willing to ride out his recovery or hope for a quick return.
This means that Walter Thurmond will start in his place and Richard Sherman will probably see more action. Roy Lewis, now practicing after sitting on the PUP list the first six weeks of the season, figures to see some action as a nickelback. The Hawks have been running a lot of nickel so it will be very interesting to see how the playing time splits work out.
Taking Trufant's spot on the roster is DT Jason Shirley, a former fifth round draft pick by the Cincinnati Bengals out of Fresno State back in 2008. Shirley is 6'5, 345, and was moved to offensive guard in training camp of '09 (you may have seen this on Hard Knocks (I think)). He's been on the Bengals practice squad since being waived that year and was released from that on Sept 3rd. Bengals writer Joe Goodberry noted:
"Shirley is powerful & thick. (He's) hard to move as DT & road grading as OG. No feet whatsoever. Raw as hell at both spots. Raw!"
Rob Rang did a really, really thorough scouting report on him back in 2008 that you can find here. Also, Scott Enyeart pointed out that Pete Carroll recruited Shirley out of Fontana HS and coached against him when he was at Fresno St. Shirley is also the older brother of current UW Husky Josh Shirley.
From what I can tell the Seahawks plan to use Shirley on the defensive side and he immediately becomes the biggest man on an already huge line. It will be interesting to see if he sees the field this week.
Finally, the Hawks also signed another former Bengal, rookie LB Stephen Franklin. Franklin, 5'11, 245 was an undrafted free agent out of Southern Illinois that signed with the Bengals earlier this season. He was waived back on August 27th but apparently has something that the Seahawks like.
The Hawks also tried out seven other linebackers, per Brian McIntyre, including Ricky Elmore and Elijah Joseph, both formerly with the Packers.
Other Notes:
Per John Boyle: "Seahawks CB Roy Lewis, who is eligible to come off the PUP list this week, said he can be ready to play Sunday if needed: "Absolutely, that's the whole mindset. . . to be ready to contribute if need be.""
Also per Boyle: "Pete Carroll said Tarvaris Jackson is ahead of schedule and that the QB "has a chance" to play Sunday." John also noted that Pete said TE Zach Miller is looking to practice on Wednesday, so that's huge.
Per Liz Mathews: "Seahawks quarterback Tarvaris Jackson is now able to throw the ball around and run and is day to day for now per Carroll after practice."
Also per Mathews: "CB Roy Lewis, TE Cameron Morrah, WR Deon Butler and LG Robert Gallery are all expected to practice Wednesday."
Here's Pete Carroll's Monday Presser, give it a listen for yourself.
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