Seahawks Bracing for Darrell Taylor to Open Season on NFI List

In what has become an unfortunate annual tradition, the Seahawks will likely be without one of their top incoming draft picks for at least the first few games of the 2020 season, if not longer.

Over the past several years, the Seahawks have had a great deal of bad luck when it comes to high draft picks struggling to stay healthy. Unfortunately, that trend has now carried into the 2020 season.

Having missed all of Seattle's training camp following offseason surgery, coach Pete Carroll indicated second-round pick Darrell Taylor still isn't quite ready to practice and wouldn't elaborate on a timeline for his return to the field. The rookie defensive end had a titanium rod placed into his leg to repair a stress fracture back in January.

"It depends how he responds to the workload," Carroll told reporters after Thursday's final training camp practice. "But we want to be patient with this because we want to get him back fully."

As the season opener in Atlanta quickly approaches on September 13, Carroll didn't rule out the possibility Taylor could remain on the Non-Football Injury list to start the year. If that happens, he won't be eligible to practice or play in games for the first six weeks on the schedule per league rules.

"NFI to start the year? That's a real possibility," Carroll continued. "He's not ready to go yet, so we'll see how it goes."

Taylor is far from the first high-profile rookie drafted by Seattle to be shelved by injuries during his first camp with the team. Last year, first-round pick L.J. Collier missed most of camp and the entire preseason with an ankle injury, while running back Rashaad Penny underwent surgery on his finger and missed most of the preseason the year before.

In 2017, second-round pick Malik McDowell was involved in an ATV accident and suffered serious injuries. As a result, he never played a snap for the team and was released two years into his rookie contract. In the season prior to that, first-round pick Germain Ifedi missed the first couple of games with an ankle injury.

With Taylor likely out for at least the first couple of weeks, if not longer, Seattle moved quickly to sign defensive end Damontre Moore. After agreeing to terms with the team earlier in the day, the veteran practiced on Thursday, sporting a No. 99 jersey.

Having bounced around the league with six NFL teams and a brief stint in the now-defunct AAF, Carroll loved what he saw from Moore when he played four games for the Seahawks in 2016, producing seven tackles and two tackles for loss. Moving on from his "wild and crazy" days as a younger player, becoming a father has "given him direction and focus," which made him an appealing option to add to the roster at this stage.

"Damontre has always impressed me with his effort and his chase for the football," Carroll commented. "He's got a great motor and I've always like that about him. He's been up and down through his career and been a lot of places and all. He's very serious right now."

Bringing 56 games of NFL experience and 10.0 career sacks back to Seattle with him, Carroll envisions Moore having a big role in the team's defensive line rotation right away as Taylor continues to work his way back from surgery.

"He really has a chance to help us right now... I'm really pleased to get him because he plays so friggin hard, really gives it up effort wise."