The Seattle Seahawks were delighted to get second-year receiver Tory Horton back in time for the start of training camp, having recovered from a season-ending cracked tibia. Horton has been available and a full-go for the majority of practices, but he wasn’t there for the Seahawks’ preseason opener against the Dallas Cowboys, and he won’t be back for Sunday’s game at the Tennessee Titans.
With Horton absent for Friday’s joint scrimmage with the Titans in Nashville, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald provided the vaguest of timelines and straight-up did not disclose why he’s not practiced over the past several days.
“He’s still working through his stuff,” Macdonald said. “He’s going to be out for a period of time.”
Macdonald also said, with a wry smile, “Sorry, I just don’t want to tell you.”
He did not indicate that it was an injury or if it’s a personal matter.
Of course, “a period of time” can mean anything from a few days to a month to five minutes. For as long as teams aren’t required to release an injury report, this ambiguity will continue.
The last notable thing involving Horton was a training camp scuffle back on Aug. 11, which Tacoma News Tribune’s Gregg Bell documented in his report:
Camp’s biggest fight yet happened one play after a sideline official flagged wide receiver Tory Horton for offensive pass interference pushing into cornerback Nathaniel Pritchett with a two-arm shiver. That was with Horton coming out of his break on a deep out route in an 11-on-11 scrimmage. The pass fell to the grass incomplete.
The defensive players yelled at Horton for the penalty. On his way back to his offense’s huddle, Horton went into the defensive huddle and talked smack at all 11 players there.
Horton lined up flanked outside left again for the next snap. He caught a quick pass outside, in front of arriving safety Ty Okada. Okada hit Horton hard in his back from behind after the play was over. Then he hit him again. Then Okada hit Horton a third time in the back, along the sideline where all the defensive players were massed.
Horton, the team’s fifth-round pick last year from Colorado State in his first weeks back from a cracked shin that ended his rookie season in November, went at Okada following the third late hit. Okada threw Horton to the ground, and into the mass of about three-dozen defensive players.
With the players’ and coaches’ significant others and kids watching from across the way, a giant pile of defensive players went at the fallen Horton. He was almost the lone offensive player on the sideline opposite his offensive teammates. When an offensive lineman ran over from the middle of the field to try to assist Horton, linebacker Derick Hall stood in front of him and stopped him.
With Horton currently unavailable and Jake Bobo likely out for the season after his knee injury in the Titans scrimmage, Seattle’s wide receiver depth is stretched a bit at the midway point of preseason. For the likes of Montorie Foster Jr, Ricky White III, Cody White, and Emmanuel Henderson Jr, it’ll be an opportunity to stake their claim for a roster spot.