Rehab update for Seahawks RB Rashaad Penny

The Seattle Seahawks were just coming around the bend in anticipation of hitting the home stretch during the 2019 season when Murphy’s law hit the running back position. Each of Rashaad Penny and Chris Carson put fantastic performances on the board in the team’s Week 13 win over the Minnesota Vikings, only to see injuries derail their seasons in the coming weeks.

Carson, the starter, went down in Week 16 with a hip injury that landed him on injured reserve, while Penny had unfortunately found his way to IR earlier in the month following a torn ACL and “additional damage” to the knee. The team has never come out and announced what exactly the additional damage was, however, given that roughly half of all ACL tears in the NFL have associated meniscus damage and given Penny’s rehab timeline, it isn’t a bad assumption that a damaged meniscus could have been at least part of the additional damage.

In any case, with rookies scheduled to report for training next week, and veterans the week after, Penny posted another rehab video to his social media Sunday. It’s obviously impossible to tell how far along he is in his rehab, but there is zero question he’s making progress.

There appears to be a slight difference in the burst and quickness between the two legs, but the progress since his poolside box work video in the spring is unquestionable.

In that video there is an immediately noticeable difference between the two legs, while in the most recent video the difference is far less pronounced. That, obviously, is to be expected given the two months of rehab between the two, and is a good sign for his continued progress and the team’s ability to rely on him to contribute later in the season.

The team has long stated that it expects Penny to start the season on the physically unable to perform list, and with Carson and Carlos Hyde ready to handle the load at the running back position for the team in the meantime, there is no rush. In any case, it’s a sign that the Seahawks could have a running back group packed full of talent during the back half of the 2020 season once Penny returns, though it remains to be seen how much of a season fans will actually get.