According to coach Pete Carroll, it might be a long time before we see Seattle Seahawks defensive end Cliff Avril on the field again — if we ever do at all.
Carroll not only ruled Avril out of Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams, but he also expressed some doubt about Avril’s long-term future.
“Like I’m saying, we’re going very slowly and making sure that he takes the opportunity to talk to as many people as he needs to talk to so he knows what he’s got and what we need to do with it and we’re just going to take care of him and make sure that he’s well,” Carroll said, per Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. “And if he wants to come back, and we want to bring him back, we’ll let you know when we know but right now we don’t.”
That wording is too glaring to ignore.
“If he comes back” certainly indicates that this could be a career ending injury. Quite frankly, retirement would make sense. Avril is 31, in his 10th NFL season, and plays a position with a great deal of wear and tear. Certainly, a neck injury is nothing to mess around with.