Getty Will Dissly passed his physical and the Seahawks tight end is expected to be ready for Week 1.
There was some concern that Will Dissly would start the season on the injured reserve list, but the Seattle Seahawks revealed the tight end passed his physical. Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll spoke glowingly about Dissly’s rehab.
“…That means that we’ll still take care of Will as we start camp, but he did pass his physical,” Carroll explained, per Seahawks.com. “We’ll look after him to make sure that we don’t come along too fast. Will’s a really great product of learning in the system and all that, he knows what he’s doing, and he’ll be a factor as soon as we cut him loose. But in the meantime, we want to make sure to take care of him. He did everything a guy could possibly do, so we’re thrilled about his process.”
Dissly will have competition this season as the Seahawks signed former Pro Bowl tight end Greg Olsen. The Seahawks have indicated they would like to utilize more two tight end sets, assuming Dissly can stay healthy.
Dissly Rehabbed for 9 Months Without Missing a Day
After having one of the best starts to 2019 of any NFL tight end, Dissly ruptured his Achilles in October. Since suffering the season-ending injury, Dissly has been rehabbing, spending a good portion of the time in Los Angeles. Carroll noted that Dissly had great success with his rehab and never missed a day of training in the nine months since he started.
“Will had an incredible offseason,” Carroll noted in his opening training camp press conference. “He worked out in L.A., the group that he worked out with told me that he had nine months with them. He spent nine months working out on a real rigid schedule, and he didn’t miss one minute of one day in nine straight months. They said they’ve never seen anybody do that before, and the benefits of it is that he comes in passes his physical. So we’re thrilled about Will’s process, but then again because of the way he has been, I’m not surprised that somebody would say that he’s been the hardest worker, the most diligent, grittiest guys that they’ve ever seen come through the program.”
The Seahawks Are Projected to Have One of the Deepest Tight End Groups in the NFL
Dissly along with Ed Dickson struggled to stay healthy last season causing the Seahawks to be thin at tight end. Jacob Hollister stepped up in a major way in Dissly’s absence as the Seahawks’ starter. The team also signed Luke Willson during the season to provide depth.
The Seahawks will start the season much deeper at the position after Olsen was signed and Dissly expects to be ready for Week 1. Over the offseason, Seattle did lose rookie Colby Parkinson for a good portion of the season with a broken foot. The Seahawks also made a trade in the seventh round to acquire LSU tight end Stephen Sullivan, but the rookie is not expected to make an immediate impact this season.
READ NEXT: Jamal Adams Has Bold Message for Seahawks Fans After Trade