Chris Carson away from Seahawks again, expected to miss mock game, return next week
Next up for the Seahawks: a mock game with more meaning than usual at CenturyLink Field.
Signs are Chris Carson won’t be playing in it.
Seattle’s lead running back remained away from the team for a second consecutive day, Friday’s eighth practice of training camp. The exact reason for his more recent absence is not known, but it’s not health-related.
Carson missed the first four practices of camp while away for a death in the family and other matters coach Pete Carroll described as serious.
“Chris has got some family stuff going on that he’s had to take care of,” Carroll said Aug. 12 following the first practice of camp.
“Our hearts go out to Chris. He’s going through some really big stuff with family members that he is looking after and taking care of.”
Carson, who is from the Atlanta suburb of Lilburn, Ga., returned to the team Aug. 17. He practiced two days. He got the carry on the first carry of his first offensive scrimmage play upon his return. Now he’s missed Thursday’s and Friday’s work. He’s likely to miss Saturday’s mock game.
The players have an off day Sunday, so Carson isn’t likely back on the field until next week, Monday at the earliest.
Carlos Hyde, signed as a free agent this spring, was the lead running the last two days as he was for the first four practices when Carson was initially gone.
Rookie fourth-round draft choice DeeJay Dallas has been impressive rushing and receiving through the first eight practices. He’s sprinted past rookie first-round pick Jordyn Taylor at linebacker on a pass route for big catch-and-run in an 11-on-11 scrimmage.
Dallas, a former University of Miami wide receiver and high school quarterback at Glynn Academy in Brunswick, Ga., has also shown some of the best toughness of camp. Veteran defenders have been making almost a game out of aggressively trying to rip the ball from his arms as he finishes off his runs. Through the constant harassment, Dallas keeps running.
And impressing.
Carroll calls Dallas “a guy with a really big attitude and personality about it and try hard and effort and all of that.”
Saturday’s mock game
The purpose of Saturday at the stadium is to give Dallas, Hyde, Brooks and other new Seahawks a feel for the day-of-game and in-stadium processes Carroll’s Seahawks do on every game day. That includes the bus rides to the stadium, pregame warm-ups, in-game substitutions, play calling and more.
“As much as anything, this is about procedural approach, getting that thing knocked out,” Carroll said. “When you have four (preseason) games, you know, you have plenty of time to work that out.”
Saturday’s mock game takes on added meaning because the NFL has canceled preseason games this summer during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have to treat this like our first preseason game,” wide receiver Phillip Dorsett, another newcomer, said Friday.
Another purpose for Saturday’s mock game, and another one at CenturyLink Field Wednesday: They are to give the team a feel of what a real game in an empty home stadium will feel like this season. The team announced this week there will be no fans in the SoDo venue for at least the first three games of this season, because of ongoing restrictions in King County because of the COVID-19 virus.
“I want to make sure we have this nailed here, at home, for sure,” Carroll said.
“We’re going to get a really good test on the first couple weeks of work, see who knows what, and see if guys are commanding their stuff on offense and defense, and the tempo and the exchanges we make going in and out, substitutions, all that kind of stuff to make us really sharp come game time when it comes up.”
In recent years the team has had its annual mock-game scrimmages at local high-school stadiums, such as last summer in Bothell in front of thousands of fans. Those games haven’t had kickoffs, punts or more special-teams plays.
This one Saturday and again on Wednesday will.
“Our first groups will be getting to work with subs,” Carroll said. “That’s an important part of it.”
This story was originally published August 21, 2020 at 6:46 PM with the headline "Chris Carson away from Seahawks again, expected to miss mock game, return next week."
