In an interview on Q13, Seattle running back Thomas Rawls said he is confident he will be healthy for the beginning of training camp.
Seahawks running back Thomas Rawls, in an interview with Seattle TV station Q13, reiterated what Seattle coach Pete Carroll has been saying for a while now — he thinks he’ll be healthy for the start of the 2016 season.
“Of course I’ll be ready for camp,’’ said Rawls, who suffered a broken left ankle in a game Dec. 13 at Baltimore that ended his rookie season.
“I’m just taking it day by day,” said Rawls. “I’m getting better. I’m walking on my own, I’m doing a lot of good things, and my recovery is coming very quickly, so I’m looking forward to being out there very, very soon.”
Carroll said at the NFL league meetings late last month that Rawls was “doing really well. He should be fine and we anticipate that he’ll be fully recovered and ready to go at least by the time the season starts and hopefully by camp.’’
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The Seahawks also recently re-signed Christine Michael, planning on Rawls and Michael serving as a 1-2 punch at the tailback spot in place of the retired Marshawn Lynch.
Still, the Seahawks will undoubtedly add to the running back spot — they have also signed free agent Cameron Marshall out of the Canadian Football League — and could take a tailback in the NFL Draft April 28-30.
Both Carroll and general manager John Schneider, though, have said since Lynch retired that the team hopes — if not expects — Rawls to take over the No. 1 tailback spot assuming there are no hiccups in his rehab.
“He definitely has the talent to do it, but we are going get a couple of people in there to compete with him and he’s recovering from a significant injury as well too,’’ Schneider said at the NFL combine in February.
In the KCPQ interview, Rawls said he is ready for the challenge and said he won’t feel pressure trying to take over for Lynch.
“Not at all,’’ he said. “There’s no pressure. I just go out here, work hard, do my job. And I have an amazing coaching staff and amazing teammates that encourage me and also just have support back home fighting through all of this adversity. I rise up and rise to the occasion in times like this. So there is no pressure.’’
Rawls led the Seahawks with 830 yards as a rookie in 2015, averaging 5.6 yards per carry after making the team as an undrafted free agent out of Central Michigan.