Seahawks Place Rylie Mills, 5 Other Rookies on Non-Football Injury List Prior to Training Camp
Seattle Seahawks rookie Rylie Mills watches as teammates warm up prior to a rookie minicamp practice in May. Credit: Corbin Smith/Emerald City Spectrum
Continuing to rehab his way back from a torn ACL suffered during his final game at Notre Dame in January, the Seattle Seahawks announced fifth-round pick Rylie Mills and five other incoming rookies had been placed on the Non-Football Injury List on Tuesday.
Along with Mills being sidelined indefinitely, Seattle also placed undrafted rookie cornerback Zy Alexander, receiver Tyrone Broden, receiver Montorie Foster, linebacker D'Eryk Jackson, and cornerback Isas Waxter on the NFI List. From that group, only Waxter missed time during OTAs and mandatory minicamp last month due to an undisclosed lower leg injury.
One of the standouts for the Fighting Irish’s defense on the way to a berth in the College Football Playoff, Mills suffered the significant knee injury during an opening round victory over Indiana in South Bend. While he told reporters after being drafted by the Seahawks in April that he was ahead of schedule, general manager John Schneider tempered expectations for when he could be back on the field, hinting that they would be pleased if he could return to practice at some point during the middle of the regular season.
As expected, Mills did not participate in much during OTAs and minicamp, though he could be seen doing some half speed get off drills off to the side in the final two practices before being sent off to a six-week break before training camp. When he returns, whether that is during camp or in the middle of the season, he will vie for reps as a position-flexible defensive tackle and defensive end.
From Seattle’s undrafted crop of players starting on the NFI List, Jackson’s inclusion may be the one that bears the most watching, as he struggled with injuries during his college career at Kentucky. Along with missing most of the 2022 season with a torn Achilles, he also missed the last four games of his senior season with a shoulder issue, which contributed to him going undrafted and not signing with the Seahawks until after trying out at rookie minicamp.
Per NFL rules, players placed on the NFI list can be activated at any time, and if there’s good news for Seahawk fans, four rookies who opened camp deactivated last summer passed their physical within the first week after reporting. While Mills likely won’t achieve that feat given the severity of his injury and how late it happened in his final college season, the rest of Seattle’s rookies likely are dealing with far less significant ailments and have a chance to be back in quick order to begin battling for roster spots.
