Injuries concern Seattle

RENTON, Wash. – Tackle Walter Jones’ left knee needs more surgery, and cornerback Marcus Trufant’s back injury will require more time.

Those were the anatomical realities coach Jim Mora described after the Seahawks practiced Wednesday, diagnosing the injuries that have cast some doubt whether two of Seattle’s best players will be ready when the season begins.

Jones will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee today, the same knee he had operated on in December. Trufant doesn’t need surgery, but he may need more time after being diagnosed with a disk injury. He has yet to be active in training camp.

Jones, 35, underwent microfracture surgery on his left knee in December. He left practice Monday because of how his knee felt and underwent a magnetic-resonance image (MRI) test. The arthroscopic procedure will be to remove any lose bodies or scar tissue affecting the knee.

“We don’t think it’s anything significant, but we just want to make sure,” Mora said.

Jones is scheduled to undergo arthroscopic surgery this morning at the Seattle Surgery Center. Dr. Ed Khalfayan and Mike McAdam will perform the procedure.

Is there a minimum time Jones will be out?

“I don’t know,” Mora said. “We’ll have more information in the morning. We don’t think that it’s anything mind-blowing serious, but we want to be sure.

“He just didn’t feel right. The big man didn’t feel right so we want to make sure that he’s OK.”

Mora provided no timeline for Trufant’s return, either. Trufant, 28, suffered a back injury on July 29, two days before training camp began. He was placed on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list for players who do not pass a physical exam.

Trufant’s rehabilitation has included conditioning in the pool, and Mora said Trufant (Washington State University) has began running. Tests this week showed there is an injury to a disk. Mora did not specify the nature or severity of the injury only that there is an “issue.”

“It’s not anything that will need surgery,” Mora said. “It’s good that we found this out now rather than in the middle of the season and tried to push him through it, because now we can make some decisions how to move forward.”

Those decisions will relate to Trufant’s status on the roster. If he is not activated from the PUP list by the time of final roster cuts on Sept. 5, he won’t be eligible to be activated again until after the Seahawks’ sixth game. At that point, Seattle would have three weeks in which to activate Trufant or lose him for the season.

“He’s making significant progress,” Mora said of Trufant. “He is doing really well. We’re going to be very, very careful with backs.”

Jones is coming back from microfracture surgery, a procedure in which holes are drilled into the bone so the blood flow will stimulate the growth of cartilage.

Jones did not play in the exhibition game Saturday, and left the field midway through the week’s first practice.

Hill expects call

Seattle Seahawks linebacker Leroy Hill expects to hear from the NFL now that he has been charged in Georgia with misdemeanor marijuana possession stemming from a January traffic stop.

Hours after the league suspended New York Jets defensive end Shaun Ellis for one game and fined him $100,000 this week following a marijuana arrest last fall, Hill had already taken notice.

Hill was recently charged by the solicitor general in Douglas County, Georgia, for misdemeanor marijuana possession. It is Hill’s first known offense, as it was for Ellis.