A six-game suspension for Jarran Reed to start the season has only intensified the magnifying glass upon the lack of proven pass rush production on the Seahawks’ roster.
The team’s need for pass rushers was illustrated by their signing of former Detroit Lions defensive end Ezekiel Ansah shortly after the compensatory draft pick threshold in May was reached. That was before Reed, who jumped from three sacks in his first two years combined to 10.5 sacks last year, was hit with a suspension for a personal conduct policy violation that will keep him out until mid-October.
Both Ansah and tight end Will Dissly, who ruptured his patella tendon last October, avoided the physically unable to perform list to start training camp for Seattle.
While Dissly is much closer to a return to the practice fields, Ansah will be brought along more slowly. The reason the team wanted to keep Ansah active was so he could take part in walkthrough sessions with the team as he continues to work on strengthening his shoulders after surgery this offseason.
“We are just going to ease our way into these days and see how he can handle the work, don’t want to rush it,” head coach Pete Carroll said Thursday. “We thought all along that it would probably be all the way through camp. So, the fact that he isn’t on PUP now and he’s going to get in work and be in walkthroughs today so he can actively be involved.”
Ansah is by far the most proven edge rusher on Seattle’s roster. However, his status has remained up in the air as he continues to work back from the injury that ultimately ended his tenure in Detroit. Ansah has posted seasons with 14.5 and 12.0 sacks in his six years with Detroit. The most productive outside pass rusher besides Ansah on the Seahawks’ roster is former Seattle draft pick Cassius Marsh, who notched 5.5 sacks last year with the San Francisco 49ers.
Carroll, who is optimistic by nature, remains hopeful that Ansah will be ready for the start of the season. Regardless of whether he makes that deadline or not, Carroll said Ansah is progressing well in his recovery process and he is fully healed from the surgery. The fact he isn’t on the PUP list would seem to indicate Seattle believes he’ll be ready far earlier than a six-week stint on the in-season PUP list would allow.
“His shoulder is healed, it’s solid,” he said. “They did all of the retesting again, just in the last couple days, to ensure that. He’s got a little bit of soreness in the lifting coming back, but really nothing to hold him back. It’s just a matter of keep getting stronger and making sure it’s really secure before we go. He’s bench pressing and doing the dumbbells and all that kind of stuff. He’s got good strength, he’ll get better strength. He came back at 270, he was 250 something when he came back in the springtime. He’s really built back up and that’s about his playing weight right in there. We are really looking forward to him being a big factor.”