Seahawks will start Griffin in opener

Seahawks rookie Shaquem Griffin will start at weakside linebacker to open the regular season Sunday against the Broncos in Denver.

Starter K.J. Wright is still recovering from minor knee surgery, and coach Pete Carroll said Wednesday that the earliest he would return is Week 2 against the Bears.

Griffin, who had his left hand amputated as a child, became one of the big stories of the NFL offseason with his performance at the scouting combine. The Seahawks drafted the former UCF star in the fifth round.

Griffin will play alongside his brother Shaquill, the starting left cornerback for the Seahawks. look like he’ll be in the game plan at this point.”

“What do you do?” guard Ramon Foster said. “Here’s a guy who doesn’t give a damn, so I guess we’ll treat it as such. I just hate it came to this.”

Bell made over $12 million last season and is due $14.5 million this season if he signs his one-year tender by the weekend and the Steelers opt not to ask for a two-week roster exemption. He will lose about $850,000 for each game he misses.

Seahawks S Earl Thomas ended his holdout in time for the start of the regular season, even without the longterm contract he was seeking. Coach Pete Carroll met briefly with Thomas but wouldn’t commit to whether Thomas would play in the opener Sunday. ... Chiefs S Eric Berry is day to day with a heel injury that has kept him out most of training camp, and his status for Sunday’s opener against the Chargers remains in question. Berry missed most of last season after rupturing his Achilles tendon in the opener . ... A person familiar with the situation said the Saints waived rookie RB Boston Scott in response to the re-signing of OL Michael Ola.