Rashaad Penny, Darrell Taylor on Cusp of Return for Seahawks
With the second half of the 2020 season well underway, the Seahawks may finally have running back Rashaad Penny and defensive end Darrell Taylor back on the practice field in the very near future.
Both Penny and Taylor missed training camp and the first 10 weeks of the season as they rehabbed from offseason surgeries. Penny, a third-year back out of San Diego State, suffered a torn ACL in a loss to the Rams last December and has been on the PUP list since camp opened. Taylor had a titanium rod inserted into his leg to help heal a stress fracture suffered in his final season at Tennessee and is on the Non-Football Injury list.
With seven weeks left in the regular season, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll indicated both players are in the final stage of their respective recoveries.
“We’re getting to the verge of those guys coming back now,” Carroll said. “Both guys are running hard, they’re working hard, they’re wearing out the trainers. They just have to kind of close in on it right now, close in on being absolutely ready to do football movements and football reactions and things like that. We’ll see here how it goes.”
It's been a long road back for both players, particularly for Taylor, who has had numerous setbacks that prevented him from having a chance at returning sooner. At one point, Seattle thought he might be back by the end of camp, but he didn't progress as quickly as hoped and couldn't make it back in time to help a struggling pass rush.
Though the Seahawks added Carlos Dunlap via trade, adding Taylor to the fold could be a significant difference maker in the final stretch. During his final two seasons with the Volunteers, the athletic rusher produced 16.5 sacks in the vaunted SEC, which explains why the team traded up in the second round to draft him.
As for Penny, he recently tweeted that he had reached the "home stretch" in his rehabilitation. With Seattle once again dealing with numerous injuries in the backfield, including Chris Carson and Carlos Hyde each missing the past three games and Travis Homer currently nursing a hand injury, his return would add another dimension to the team's rushing attack.
Prior to injuring his knee, Penny enjoyed the finest stretch of his career in back-to-back wins over the Eagles and Vikings. He rushed for a career-best 129 yards in Philadelphia, including a 58-yard back-breaking touchdown in the second half, and then followed up with over 100 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns against Minnesota.
Once designated to return, which could happen as early as next week for either player, the Seahawks would have a 21-day window to activate Penny and Taylor to the 53-man roster. Per Carroll, it's a "week-to-week" proposition at this point.
“These guys are ready to go and we’re a week away or two weeks away probably from something happening here with these guys," Carroll commented. "Would love to see those guys come back and be a part of next week even possibly. We’ll have to wait and see what happens and we’re really going to do a nice job of making sure we don’t rush it. I know it’s been quite a while but now that we’re down to it we’ve got to make really good choice and decisions as we finish [the rehab] off.”
Assuming each player continues to make progress and practices in the next week or two, Penny and Taylor will have a prime opportunity to give the Seahawks a shot in the arm on both sides of the football during the team's push for an NFC West title.
