Seattle Seahawks running back Thomas Rawls’ rookie season came to an abrupt halt when he suffered a broken ankle and ligament damage in a game against the Baltimore Ravens in December.
Rawls rushed for 830 yards and four touchdowns in 13 total games and seven starts for Seattle last year in relief of an oft-injured Marshawn Lynch. With Lynch retiring (though he hasn’t submitted the paperwork as of yet), Rawls is in line to be the workhorse running back in Seattle’s offense.
But Rawls has to get healthy before he’s able to assume that role for good. During a Boy Scouts of America luncheon in Seattle on Thursday, Rawls said he’s close to getting moving again.
“I’ll be running soon,” Rawls said, via the team’s Twitter account.
The Seahawks are usually careful with players returning from injuries in the offseason. There would seem to be little reason to expect Rawls to return to the practice fields before training camp in late July. But for a team that is still committed to running the football, Rawls will be an important cog in the offense. Seeing him get back to running in the near future is an important step forward.
