No timeline for return of Dee Eskridge yet

In the 2021 NFL Draft the Seattle Seahawks held no first or third round selection after having sent those picks to the New York Jets in exchange for the services of All Pro safety Jamal Adams. Thus, holding just one pick that would have been a Day 1 choice before the draft moved to primetime and shifted to a three day format, the team chose to add speedster Dee Eskridge to the arsenal of weapons at the disposal of quarterback Russell Wilson Geno Smith.

However, injuries have plagued Eskridge since his arrival in Seattle, with a toe injury limiting him for much of the summer and leading to a stint on the physically unable to perform list to open training camp. Between the toe healing and trainers working with Eskridge to figure out how to manage the tow injury with special shoes, optimism was high as the regular season arrived and Eskridge was cleared to play.

Unfortunately, the amount of playing time he saw was minimal, as on his twelfth offensive snap of the season Eskridge was knocked unconscious on a bang-bang play on the sideline where he first collided helmet to helmet with a defender before falling to the ground and smashing his head on the turf. He, of course, entered the concussion protocols and was working his way back when he suffered a setback and was then moved to injured reserve prior to the Week 5 game against the Los Angeles Rams.

Thus the Week 7 matchup against the New Orleans Saints is the third game for which Eskridge will have been on injured reserve, making him eligible to return to the 53 man roster following the Monday Night Football showdown. However, it appears as though he may still be suffering symptoms from the concussion, and his future remains uncertain.

So, not only has Eskridge been out of town, he’s been out of town in order to get more tests done, apparently in order to further evaluate his situation. Now, players don’t usually head to out of town specialists for further evaluation when they are hearing the news they want from their doctor, so it would appear that things may not be progressing for Eskridge in his recovery. Obviously the key will be to await word on what the further testing and evaluation shows, but with six weeks having passed since the time of the initial injury, it’s obvious that whatever injury occurred was very serious.

At this point, any contributions Eskridge may make on the field this season are far less important than his health and well being. As such, hoping for the best, as there’s nothing more to do at this point besides wait.