Pete Carroll: “A Lot To Ask” For Rookie DL Malik McDowell To Play This Year

Seahawks HC Pete Carroll mentioned during an interview with Dave “Softy” Mahler on Monday that it’s “a lot to ask” for second-round DL Malik McDowell to return this season after he sustained serious injuries in an ATV accident.

“I think it sounds like it’s a lot to ask right now, but we’ll just see. I don’t know. It’s a serious injury,” Carroll said, via Curtis Crabtree of 950 KJR.

According to Carroll, McDowell returned home to continue his recovery from a concussion and facial injuries after traveling to Seattle last week.

He had a serious accident. He had multiple injuries. He had an injury to his head. It’s going to be quite a while and we’re going to have to wait it out,” Carroll said. “He’s on (the non-football injury) and is going to be there for a while and we’re just going to have to see how he progresses down the road. We’re not looking for him getting back in the immediate, not even for the first game of the season or that kind of stuff. We’re going to wait it out and see how he does.

The good news is that Carroll said this shouldn’t be a career-ending issue for him, but his recovery will still take some time.

“No we don’t think so, but we have to wait,” Carroll added. “He’s just turned 21. We just got to wait him out. He’s a real young kid so he’s got plenty of time to get well but we have to make sure and take care of him.

“Just got to wait out recovery. He’s not working out yet, he can’t do anything as far as physical workouts. He’s walking is what he’s doing. He feels fine. It’s very frustrating for him because he feels fine but he’s just got to make it through the recovery.”

The Seahawks officially placed McDowell on the non-football injury list last week after he reported to the team.

McDowell, 20, was selected with the No. 35 overall pick by the Seahawks after they elected to trade down with the Jaguars. In total, the Seahawks gave up the No. 34 overall pick and acquired a second- and a sixth-round pick in this year’s draft for the right to select McDowell.

According to OverTheCap.com, McDowell will receive a four-year contract worth $6,955,406, which includes a signing bonus of $3,198,476.

During his three-year college career at Michigan State, McDowell recorded 88 total tackles, 24.5 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, one interception, two forced fumbles, and scored one defensive touchdown in 32 games with the Spartans.

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