Seattle Seahawks starting offensive tackles Russell Okung and Breno Giacomini have missed a combined 13 games already this season.
Okung sprained a ligament in his toe during Seattle’s Week 2 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Giacomini went down the following week with a knee injury that required surgery against the Jacksonville Jaguars. It’s forced the Seahawks to make-do with a patchwork unit for most of the season.
Both are expected to return to practice for the Seahawks on Wednesday.
Okung and Giacomini both had “really good workouts” prior to Seattle’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, according to head coach Pete Carroll.
Okung isn’t eligible to play for another week as he remains on the short-term injured reserve list. He can play Nov. 17 against the Minnesota Vikings if activated. Giacomini is able to play as soon as he is healthy enough to do so. However, having missed six weeks, Carroll doesn’t want to rush him back onto the field.
“It’s not likely that he’ll be ready, that’s a lot to ask him in one week’s time on the practice field,” Carroll said. “We’d like to take a couple of weeks, get him back, really get him solid, get his legs under him and see where he is. We have been really trying to be cautious in a sense to make sure we don’t hurry things up too much.”
The return of Okung and Giacomini will essentially return three starters to the lineup for Seattle as Paul McQuistan will be able to move back inside to his natural left guard position from left tackle. With their bye week following the Vikings’ game, Seattle should have their offensive line back to full strength for the final month of the regular season.