The Seattle Seahawks lost a key piece of their special teams unit after coach Pete Carroll announced on Friday that Neiko Thorpe had surgery for a sports hernia, and will miss the rest of the 2019 season.
“Neiko had surgery for an athletic hernia,” Carroll commented. “He is coming back from Philadelphia today. He will be done.”
Philadelphia is where Dr. William Meyers works. Dr. Meyers performed sports hernia surgeries on Doug Baldwin and Jarran Reed in the past year, and also visited with Jadeveon Clowney a few weeks ago when the Seahawks played the Eagles. It’s unclear if that’s why Thorpe was in Philadelphia, but it certainly adds up.
Thorpe appeared in seven games for the Seahawks this year, racking up four solo tackles. He did most of his work on the special teams, although he did play 13 defensive snaps against the Falcons in Week 8 as an injury replacement.
Carroll did not specify if Thorpe will be placed on the injured reserve, but it would make sense for the team to do so, as they will eventually need to clear a roster spot for Ethan Pocic to officially return from IR.
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