Hill may face more penalties for being fan

RENTON, Wash. – Leroy Hill is eligible to return to action Sunday after serving a one-game suspension last weekend. The Seattle Seahawks’ linebacker, however, may be facing more punishment from the league sometime soon.

Hill had to sit out the season opener for violating the league’s substance abuse policy – Hill was arrested in 2009 and later pleaded guilty to a marijuana possession charge – but he attended the game to support his teammates.

Unbeknownst to Hill and the team, his presence at Qwest Field, even as a spectator, constituted a violation of league rules which state that a suspended player cannot be at the game.

“I didn’t know,” Hill said. “I went to the game, and I thought it was fine. I was up in the stands, I didn’t go on the field or in the locker room or anything like that. I went to the game to support my teammates.”

Hill said he hasn’t yet heard from the league, and a league spokesman said in an e-mail that, “We do not expect to conclude the review before next week.” So whatever discipline Hill is facing, it won’t affect his eligibility for Sunday’s game. It seems unlikely that Hill would face further suspension, but a fine is a definite possibility.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll was also unaware that Hill had broken any rules until after the fact.

“Yeah, he did go to the game,” Carroll said. “I didn’t know what the rule was on that one, I didn’t tell him. So what he did he did on his own. But we should have been able to let him know what was going on in that. We just didn’t tell him. So he showed up, he was there. I didn’t see him, but he was around.

“The rules say that a guy that’s suspended isn’t supposed to be at the stadium and so I didn’t know that. So we found out the hard way.”

Injury update

Tackles Russell Okung (ankle) and Chester Pitts (knee) are both out this week. Linebacker Matt McCoy (quad) is doubtful, while everyone else appears to be ready to go. Receiver Mike Williams (thigh), guard Mike Gibson (back) and defensive end Chris Clemons all participated fully in practice and are listed as probable. It sounds as if Okung, who suffered a high ankle sprain in the second preseason game, is making progress, but isn’t as far along as the team had hoped.