The rookie season of safety Bud Clark is over before it even got started.
The Seattle Seahawks placed their second-round pick on injured reserve on Tuesday after he suffered a broken ankle in Sunday’s preseason game in Tennessee.
Clark and reserve offensive lineman Mason Richman were placed on injured reserve, meaning the seasons are over for both. Players placed on IR during the preseason are not eligible to return during the regular season.
Clark was injured in the opening moments of the first quarter and had to be carted off the field with an air cast placed around his right ankle. The rookie was expected to be a contributor this season and his acclimation to the defense was seen as important with uncertainty about Nick Emmanwori’s recovery from ankle surgery and if he’ll be ready to go at the start of the season.
Clark, who was a standout in college at TCU, was taken with the 64th overall pick in the draft back in April.
Richman was a seventh-round pick a season ago and was also injured in the first quarter against the Titans. Richman hobbled off the field under his own power but coach Mike Macdonald said after the game that Richman had suffered a significant injury.
“For those two guys, Bud (Clark) coming in, working as hard as he has, figuring the system out, finally getting comfortable, to have something like that, I don’t know what happened. But it was serious enough to get carted off,” backup quarterback Drew Lock said after the Titans game. “Then even Mason (Richman), man, I was just giving him props. I forgot who I was talking to the other day about how good he’s been this camp and how versatile he is.”
The two injuries during the game, coupled with a major knee injury suffered by wide receiver Jake Bobo in the joint practice with the Titans made it a costly trip to Nashville from an injury standpoint.
The Seahawks signed tackle Derrick Graham, safety Tysheem Johnson and running back Justin Jones to fill the open roster spots before Friday’s preseason finale in Kansas City.