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.
Bell holdout takes toll: Le’Veon Bell’s Steelers teammates spent the offseason and all of training camp brushing off his absence, confident in their belief that the All-Pro running back would eventually let the business side of things play out, sign his franchise tender and be at work when things got real.
He’ll show up when it matters, they said. We’re not worried, they said. Time to worry. And vent. Bell’s chair remained tucked neatly into his locker on Wednesday, meaning he will almost certainly not be available when the Steelers open the season Sunday in Cleveland.
“Honestly it’s a little selfish,” said center Maurkice Pouncey, a captain who had predicted Bell would arrive by Wednesday. “I’m kind of (ticked) right now. It sucks that he’s not here. We’ll move on as a team. It doesn’t 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.
Extra points: Seahawks S Earl Thomas ended his holdout in time for the start of the regular season, even without the long-term 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.