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Brady HendersonESPN
SEATTLE — Russell Wilson, Bobby Wagner and other Seattle Seahawks veterans will take part in the team’s final week of OTAs after sitting out the start of the voluntary offseason program.
Wilson posted a video to Instagram Sunday of his arrival into Seattle. His personal quarterback coach, Jake Heaps, confirmed that Wilson was planning to report for OTAs on Monday. A source told ESPN that Wagner is also among the veteran Seahawks who will do the same.
Wilson has been training in his offseason home in the San Diego area, where he has hosted several Seahawks skill players for workouts and throwing sessions, as he does each year.
His absence from the start of the offseason program was unrelated to the frustrations he voiced in February and the trade speculation that followed. The Seahawks were one of several teams whose players said in April that they would not take part in voluntary in-person workouts this offseason. Their statement cited COVID-19 concerns and the benefits that last year’s shift to a virtual offseason had on their health and safety.
The Seahawks have held six of their 10 OTAs. The remaining four are scheduled for Monday through Thursday. Their mandatory three-day minicamp is next week.
Coach Pete Carroll said on May 27 that just under 40 players were taking part in OTAs. That included several non-rookies. The quarterbacks Carroll said were taking part at that time were Danny Etling and Alex McGough. The team’s Twitter account posted a photo last week showing Geno Smith, Wilson’s backup the past two seasons, among the non-rookies who were practicing.
Most if not all of the veteran players who have not been in attendance have been taking part in virtual meetings.
Carroll said on May 27 that he supports the decision “we made” for veterans to stay away.
“We’re just doing what’s best for us and what our guys need to do,” he said. “Like I’ve told you, we’re making terrific progress. We’ve been here before with what we can get done in virtual [meetings], and again, it’s going great. Our guys are dedicated and working their butts off everywhere, all over the place. We don’t have that many guys living in the area. So it’s a little bit more of a challenge to get guys in here early in the offseason.”
Carroll said then that he had been in communication with Wilson and Wagner about getting veteran players to report. He hinted that they would start to do so before minicamp.
“We expect a pretty darn good attendance in minicamp,” Carroll said on May 27. “There’s a couple guys that have some special situations, but for the most part we expect our guys to be there. The week before is a really important week as well in preparation for it, so we’ll see more guys coming through as we get to … the middle of June there.”