Seahawks Host Free-Agent Wide Receiver

Getty The Seattle Seahawks hosted their former receiver Paul Richardson.

The Seattle Seahawks hosted free-agent wide receiver Paul Richardson, and he could sign with the team later this week, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. Richardson is a former second-round pick of the Seahawks and spent the last two seasons with Washington.

“Possible reunion in Seattle between the #Seahawks and WR Paul Richardson,” Garafolo tweeted. “Sources say the team’s former second-round pick is at the facility today for COVID-19 testing. He’ll go through protocol and could sign later this week.”

Richardson is not the former Seahawks receiver that many fans are waiting for as Josh Gordon’s status for the upcoming season remains uncertain after applying for reinstatement. The Seahawks are looking to solidify their third wide receiver as Phillip Dorsett and John Ursua have both battled injuries early in training camp.

Richardson’s best season came with the Seahawks in 2017 as the receiver notched 44 receptions for 703 yards and six touchdowns. The wideout played in 10 games last season for Washington notching 28 catches for 245 yards and two touchdowns. Richardson battled injuries during his tenure with the Seahawks but was a productive receiver when he was on the field.

Seahawks Offensive Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer Recently Praised John Ursua

It has been a challenging start to training camp for Ursua. The second-year receiver was briefly sidelined after a false positive COVID-19 test and later sustained an injury. Seahawks offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer has been impressed with Ursua’s progression since his rookie season.

“J.U. has done a really, really good job picking up the system,” Schottenheimer said, per Seahawks.com. “Last year was hard for him coming from Hawaii, more of that spread system where all they did was run a bunch of option routes and things like that. He has tremendous ability at the line of scrimmage, so as we work kind of our choice option games, he’s always been very natural at that. It’s some of the other things, the details and stuff that he’s been off on. This year, that’s been completely different. He’s been on top of the details, he’s been mentally making quick decisions with some of the hot adjustments and things that we have to do. So he’s been extremely impressive, he had a great day yesterday, a couple big plays, two from Russ and one from Geno (Smith). So I love what we see from J.U., really just playing well and playing faster. He’s playing more rather than thinking a lot. Last year I think he was having to think, ‘OK, what’s this route mean, what’s my split?’ And this year, he looks much more relaxed, much more comfortable.”

Dorsett & Ursua Are Both Sidelined

Dorsett remains sidelined just a few days after Pete Carroll called Dorsett the fastest player the team has had. NBC Sports Northwest’s Joe Fann believes Ursua is closer to a return to the field than Dorsett.

“John Ursua has a slight hamstring tweak. Phillip Dorsett has a sore foot that needs to be rested for ‘a bit,'” Fann explained on Twitter. “Neither sounds serious, but Dorsett’s could linger as he’s been dealing with it for a while.”

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