RENTON — Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman earned Pro Bowl honors on Tuesday, but that doesn’t mean he was happy about the announcement.
Sherman was one of five Seahawks named to the 2014 Pro Bowl squad, but when asked earlier in the day what might upset him about the Pro Bowl announcement coming that night, he said, “If we only have five players named again.”
Sherman, safeties Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor, running back Marshawn Lynch and linebacker Bobby Wagner were all named to the Pro Bowl roster, meaning the Seahawks will have at least five Pro Bowlers for the fourth consecutive year, but in the mind of Sherman and plenty of others, that number is “only” five.
Thomas earns Pro Bowl honors for the fourth straight season, while Sherman gets his second nod, Chancellor gets his third and Lynch his fifth. It’s the first Pro Bowl selection for Wagner, who has been one of Seattle’s best players this season, but who also missed five games with a turf toe injury, putting his chances in doubt despite being one of the best linebackers in the league this season.
The Seahawks also had five players named Pro Bowl alternates: quarterback Russell Wilson, left tackle Russell Okung, center Max Unger, defensive end Michael Bennett and kicker Steven Hauschka. The league doesn’t announce the order of alternates, but Seahawks owner Paul Allen provided the details via Twitter, writing that Okung and Unger are first alternates, Bennett and Hauschka second alternates and Wilson the third alternate.
That Wilson, Bennett and others weren’t named to the team outright — they still could be selected if somebody bows out because of an injury, and that happens a lot — will bug Sherman as much as it does a lot of fans.
“It’s kind of frustrating, because you sometimes feel like your teammates are getting punished for being on a good team,” Sherman said, “Your linebackers are getting punished for not having a D-line that allows them to make 130, 140 tackles. Your D-line is being punished because everybody is not going to get 10 sacks or one guy is not going to get 14, 15 sacks — that’s difficult to get on a team like this. You just feel for guys.
“In the secondary, I think we get the acclaim a lot of times, Legion of Boom, and they respect our games. I think it’s well deserved, a lot of people say it’s well deserved. I think the rest of our defense recognition would be well deserved. I think Mike Bennett should be in the Pro Bowl this year, I think Bobby Wagner should be in the Pro Bowl, K.J. Wright should be in the Pro Bowl and a number of members of our secondary. Obviously, Marshawn and Russell, but unfortunately, I’m not sure it’s going to go like that.”
Sherman will, however, be happy that Wagner is a first-time Pro Bowler after campaigning for the middle linebacker frequently in press conference throughout the season. Wagner ranks second on the team with 94 tackles and has without a doubt been one of the best middle linebackers in the league this season, but he also missed five games, which some thought might cost him a shot at his first Pro Bowl appearance. His play since coming back, which has been a big part of Seattle’s late-season surge, was apparently enough for Wagner to overcome the time he missed in the eye of voters.
“It means something to me, but that’s not my focus,” Wagner said last week when asked about the Pro Bowl. “If it happens, it’s a blessing. If it doesn’t, I’m just going to take my frustration out on everybody who’s in front of me.”
And of course, in the end, the Seahawks, and every other playoff team, hope that none of their players actually play in the game since it takes place the weekend before the Super Bowl, meaning players on the two Super Bowl teams don’t participate in the Pro Bowl.
Injury update
The Seahawks returned to practice a day early so they can take Christmas off, and since the league requires injury reports Wednesday through Friday, they did not have to submit one following Tuesday’s practice. However, head coach Pete Carroll did provide some updates in a press conference.
Okung, who missed Sunday’s game in Arizona with a bruised lung was expected to practice and “has a real good chance to get back.” Unger, who has missed the past five games with a high-ankle sprain wouldn’t “do much today, maybe we’ll get something out of him tomorrow,” Carroll said. “It’s going to be touch-and-go to get him by the game. It’s just been a long, arduous process getting him back, unfortunately. I would love to say he’s cranking and ready to go, but I can’t tell that right now. I don’t know.”
Carroll didn’t sound optimistic on Jermaine Kearse making it back this week after injuring his hamstring against the Cardinals, but he didn’t completely rule out the possibility of that happening, saying, “It’s going to be tough for him to make it back, because he did pull his hammy a little bit. It’s a first-degree pull. It’s going to be hard to get back in seven days, but we’ll check him at the end of the week and see where he is.”
On tight end Cooper Helfet, who cracked a rib, according to his own post on Twitter, Carroll said, “He’s practicing today, just toughing it out, really. It was an admirable job by him to get banged like he did and make it through the game, and to come back out here now. He’ll try to make it through the week and see if he can be available to us on the weekend.”
Carroll said tight end Tony Moeaki will also return to practice this week after missing Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury.
Cornerback Tharold Simon, who left the game with a shoulder injury: “He felt pretty good today and he’ll get some work tomorrow and see how far he can take it,” Carroll said. “This will be an amazing recovery if he is able to do it; he had a real knock on his shoulder, but he feels pretty good. He has been through it before on his other shoulder, so that helps sometimes. It seems like he has a chance.”
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com
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