Seahawks CB Riq Woolen Passes Physical, Moves From PUP
After being sidelined for the first eight practices in training camp, Seattle Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen passed his physical and has been activated from the PUP list.
Sporting a helmet for the first time this season, Woolen returned to action for Sunday's practice nearly three months following minor knee surgery. Last Thursday, coach Pete Carroll was non-committal on when he would be back, but indicated he was getting close to returning and had ramped up his workouts.
"He gets closer every day," Carroll said. "He’s running really hard. All of our PUP guys are making positive progress. There hasn’t been any setback for any of the guys. It’s just a matter of when they can maintain a really high level, speed-wise and explosion-wise, over a long period of time before we cut them loose. Now they’re ok. They’re healed now. Now is getting them into football shape and guaranteeing that before we put them out there.
Woolen originally suffered the injury walking between drills during an offseason practice in May and flew down to Texas for a clean up procedure, which caused him to miss the rest of Seattle's offseason program. He has been present on the sidelines at all of the practices to this point.
Last season, Woolen took the NFL by storm as a fifth-round pick out of UTSA. Earning a starting job out of training camp at right cornerback, he intercepted a pass in four straight games from Week 3 to Week 6, including returning a pick six against Jared Goff in a win over the Lions. He finished his rookie season tied for the NFL lead with six interceptions and registered nine pass breakups, receiving his first Pro Bowl selection and finishing third in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting.
Working his way back into football shape, Woolen likely will be eased back into a full workload on the practice field and the Seahawks can afford to be patient with veterans Mike Jackson and Tre Brown as well as rookie Devon Witherspoon all rotating to play snaps on the outside.
With Woolen now activated, the Seahawks have four players remaining on the PUP list who can be activated at any time, including safety Jamal Adams, linebacker Jordyn Brooks, and defensive tackles Bryan Mone and Austin Faoliu. As Carroll noted last week, all four of those players seem to be trending in the right direction, but it remains unclear when they will make their much-anticipated returns.
In additional roster news, Seattle waived undrafted defensive end M.J. Anderson before practice on Sunday and re-signed defensive tackle Roderick Perry, who was waived last week to open up a spot for rookie Robert Cooper. The former Illinois standout played in two games as a rookie for Cleveland last season.
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