Silence over injury could hurt Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks may pay a steep price for zipping their lips about Richard Sherman’s knee injury during the season.
The NFL is considering whether to take away a second-round NFL draft pick because the team did not include the knee injury on any report, ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen say.
Head coach Pete Carroll announced the news of Sherman’s injury after the Seahawks’ loss to the Atlanta Falcons in the second round of the playoffs last weekend.
Because the Seahawks have already been punished for another infraction, losing a fifth-round pick for a repeat violation of organized-team activity rules early in the 2016 season, the NFL could increase the penalty to a secondrounder, sources told ESPN.
Carroll revealed Sherman’s injury, a sprained medial collateral ligament, during his weekly radio show Monday on Seattle’s ESPN 710. Later that day, during his final news conference of the season, he called the injury “legit.”
“I didn’t realize that we hadn’t even revealed it,” Carroll said.
“I don’t even remember what game it was — it was somewhere in the middle. He was fine about it. He didn’t miss anything.”
Sherman missed no practices or games. Several times during the season, Sherman’s name appeared on practice reports with a “limited” or “did not participate” designation that included no mention of a knee injury — a violation of the NFL’s policy.
When he missed practice or was limited, the team reported his absence was not injury related.
The league’s policy states teams must report information about injuries “accurately to the public, to the opposing team, local and national media, broadcast partners and others.”
According to the policy, “The practice report provides clubs and fans with an accurate description of a player’s injury status … If any player has a significant or noteworthy injury, it must be listed on the practice report, even if he fully participates in practice and the team expects that he will play in the team’s next game.”
In September, the Seahawks were fined US$400,000 and Carroll was fined US$200,000 in September for violating rules that limit contact during organized team activities. As well as the fifth-round pick, the team lost its first three organized team practices in 2017.