Receiver Rice still missing, and might be a while?

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

Seattle Sea-hawks receiver Sidney Rice’s eventual return to the field became more uncertain Sunday.

Pete Carroll confirmed the news, first reported by Fox Sports, that his high-priced receiver indeed has a torn labrum in his sore shoulder that kept him out of the team’s first two games.

However, Carroll said the injury is not similar to tight end John Carlson’s shoulder injury. Carlson had surgery to repair his torn labrum two weeks ago, and was placed on the season-ending injured reserve list.

Rice, who joined the Seahawks in July by signing a five-year $41 million contract with an $18.5 million guarantee, has not played since Seattle’s third exhibition game, Aug. 27 at Denver.

He was a limited participant in practice leading up to the Pittsburgh game and participated in some team drills, although he wore a red jersey to signify he was not allowed to have any contact.

Depending on the severity, some players can play with labrum injuries. Carroll indicated that the strength in Rice’s shoulder appears to be improving, which should give him an opportunity to play next week.

But there’s no guarantee Rice won’t injure the shoulder worse if he plays against Arizona on Sunday.

“We just need to see if he continues to respond,” Carroll said. “He’s got a sore shoulder now, and we’ve got to make sure he’s right before we put him back.

“He’s got some damage in his shoulder. And we’re trying to figure out how he can come back. … The labrum issues are all different. And he’s responding very well. So we need to see if he’s ready to go.

“This will be a big week for us to test him. He was about 80 percent last week, I would think. If you watch practice you would think he could play. We didn’t hit him and knock him around, so we won’t know until we get more active with him in practice. We’ll know more this week.”

via Receiver Rice still missing, and might be a while | Seattle Seahawks – The News Tribune.

Tags: 5 Million, Eventual Return, Exhibition Game, fox sports, Hawks, Injured Reserve, John Carlson, Labrum Injuries, News Tribune, Pete Carroll, Seattle Sea Hawks, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS, Severity, Shoulder Injury, Sidney Rice, Sore Shoulder, Team Drills, Tight End, Torn Labrum, Two Games