Seattle Seahawks defensive end Frank Clark was held out of full team periods on the first day of training camp on Thursday as he eases back into practices after offseason wrist surgery.
Head coach Pete Carroll said after practice that Clark had the surgery “back in the summer.” Clark had been absent for many of the team’s voluntary workouts in May and June.
“He’s coming back from it and is working hard to get back in action,” Carroll said.
Clark said later on his Twitter account that he had broken bones in both of his hands last season and could have had surgery during the season to address the issue. However, it would have kept him out 8 to 10 weeks while recovering.
“At the time we were struggling with more terminal injuries to our defense and I knew I could fight through mines,” he wrote.
Cliff Avril, Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor all wound up on injured reserve due to injuries. With Avril and Michael Bennett no longer with the team, Clark becomes Seattle’s top pass rusher entering the season. Dion Jordan missing time with another injury also puts more focus on Clark as Seattle looks to reset some key pieces of its defense.