Panic May Set in Soon for Seahawks if Jones, Trufant Don't Get Healthy

So much of sports can be chalked up to luck -- a fortunate bounce here, an untimely injury there, and an entire season can be altered. Turns out sports journalists have to deal with fickle fate as well.

Take beat writer Danny O'Neill of The Seattle Times. When O'Neill wrote an article on Wednesday afternoon telling Seahawks fans to avoid panicking over injuries to Walter Jones and Marcus Trufant, he had no idea that Seattle head coach Jim Mora would include in his Wednesday night press conference an update on both players.

Even those Seattle fans who were managing to stay calm before might be sweating just a bit after hearing Mora's announcements.

Jones, a starting offensive tackle for the Seahawks since 1997, will have arthroscopic knee surgery on his left knee Thursday. Players often come back fairly quick from that procedure if there's no major structural damage found, but Jones has microfracture on that same knee in December and is 35 years old. Neither of those facts are very encouraging for Jones' health going forward.

Trufant's ailment, a back disc problem, may actually turn out to be the more serious of the two. He's on Seattle's Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list and doesn't even sound close to joining practice.

Mora said that Trufant won't need surgery, and he could stay on the PUP list and not eat up a roster spot -- though if he's still there for Week 1, he won't be able to come off until after Week 6.

"Because of the history that we have with backs here, we're very careful," Mora said.

That "history" includes Matt Hasslebeck's 2008 back injury, one that sounds similar to Trufant's, which cost Hasslebeck the entire second half of his season.

The panic-inducing issue for Seattle fans regarding both Jones and Trufant is that their potential fill-ins are substantial steps down. With Jones out of practice, Sean Locklear slid to the left tackle spot, with Na'Shan Goddard jumping in on the right. Locklear's steady -- he's got 53 starts in the last four years for Seattle -- but Goddard has made zero pro starts. Jones has nine Pro Bowl appearances, just for comparison's sake.

If Trufant misses extended time, Josh Wilson probably slides into the starting lineup across from Ken Lucas. Wilson had 76 tackles and four interceptions last year, but Trufant earned a six-year, $50.2 million deal in 2008 and teams more or less avoided him last season. He's a very good shutdown corner.

Feel free to panic, even if it's a little premature, Seattle fans. These are both troubling situations.