Camp over, and Okung still weeks away

Published on August 19, 2011 by Tacoma News Tribune (Feed)     

Training camp officially ended for the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday.

But coach Pete Carroll would have liked a little more time.

“Everything we do is important,” he said. “We haven’t had many breaks. We haven’t had many opportunities to do anything other than the stuff that we’ve done, and our coaching staff feels good about it. But we feel rushed. We do feel rushed. It’s what it is.”

One of the reasons Carroll wants to push the clock back is to give offensive tackle Russell Okung more time to heal.

However, a week after suffering what appeared to be another serious left-ankle injury, the second-year player was back on the field in helmet and cleats working through individual drills with his fellow linemen.

Okung gingerly made his way through the early portion of the workout, including pass drops and some zone steps in the run game, but he did not participate in the team portion of practice.

He talked briefly with reporters about the injury.

“(I hope to get back) as soon as possible,” Okung said. “It’s coming around a lot faster than I thought it (would), so I’m just waiting around.”

Carroll said Okung is still a couple of weeks away from being ready and will not play on Saturday against Minnesota.

“We know that he’s maybe a week away, or two weeks away at the most,” Carroll said. “He’s able to do walk-through stuff. And he’s staying up with all the installations and the advances. So it feels good.”

However, Carroll would not fully commit to the expectation that Okung would be ready for Seattle’s regular-season opener at San Francisco on Sept. 11.

“We think he has a real good chance to do that, but I don’t know that,” Carroll said. “I won’t know until he gets back out. But he’s way ahead of the schedules that we have seen him on before. And that’s a great sign, so all the indications are he’ll have a chance to do that.”

While Okung will watch from the sideline Saturday, another cog in the defense will see his first action. Defensive end Red Bryant was a full participant in practice, and back to his old antics.

Bryant brought tight end Dominique Byrd to the ground about 10 yards down the field in the flat in a zone-blitz drop. That would have been OK if it was a live tackling drill – but it wasn’t. Players were in shorts and shells on Thursday.

via Camp over, and Okung still weeks away | Seattle Seahawks – The News Tribune.

Tags: Ankle Injury, Cleats, Clock, coach pete carroll, Cog, Expectation, Good Chance, Helmet, Left Ankle, Linemen, Run Game, San Francisco, Season Opener, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS, Sept 11, Sideline, Stuff, Suffering, training camp, Workout