Sidney Rice continues to get his pair of new shoulders into football shape.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” Rice said Friday, via Clare Farnsworth of the team’s official website. “I’m going to continue this rehab and get back out as soon as possible. I’m feeling better and better every day, and getting stronger every day.”
Rice’s right shoulder bothered him for much of the 2011 season. When doctors were examining the right shoulder, they discovered a torn labrum in his left shoulder. Eleven anchors were installed in each shoulder to stabilize the joint.
Rice said he was able to play with the shoulder injuries (especially since he didn’t know about the one in the left shoulder), and that it was a pair of concussions in a three-game span that shut him down for the last five games of the year. Still, he decided to get the shoulders repaired, in the hopes of improving his effectiveness.
"[Y]ou need those shoulders to get up in the air,” Rice said. “You fall on the ground a lot. Things like that. So you want your shoulders to be stable and in place.”
Rice, who parlayed a huge 2009 season into a big contract with in 2011 (despite an injury-shortened 2010), thinks that he can do big things for the Seahawks.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that this team is a much better team when I’m out there on the field,” Rice said.
While his humility may need 11 anchors (or more), his point is accurate. Rice has the talent to be a great receiver, and he’ll make whoever wins the three-headed quarterback competition look better.