Bud Clark injury news has quickly become one of the biggest concerns out of Seattle’s trip to Nashville, with the Seahawks placing the rookie safety on injured reserve after he broke his ankle in the preseason loss to the Titans.
Clark, a second-round pick in this year’s draft, suffered the injury on Seattle’s first defensive snap. The setback is expected to keep him out for multiple months, leaving the Seahawks to move quickly and adjust their roster after a difficult weekend.
It is a tough blow for a player who was already trying to make an early impression. Mike Macdonald did not hide the scale of the setback when discussing the injury, describing it as a heartbreaker and saying Clark would be unavailable for a long stretch.
What happened to Bud Clark?
Clark went down during the preseason loss to the Titans, and the injury was severe enough for Seattle to shut him down immediately. According to Macdonald, Clark has a broken ankle and is expected to miss multiple months.
That alone would be a major setback for any rookie, but the timing makes it even more painful for the Seahawks. The injury came on the first defensive snap, which underlines how little time Clark had to settle into the game before the night turned badly.
How the Seahawks responded
Seattle placed Clark on injured reserve on Tuesday, using one of its open roster spots to make the move. The Seahawks also signed Derrick Graham, Tysheem Johnson and Justin Jones as they continued to reshuffle the roster after the injuries from Nashville.
The club had one open roster spot before waiving Anthony Hankerson on Monday, so the front office had some flexibility to act once the injury picture became clearer. Still, the response shows just how quickly one preseason game can affect roster planning.
A difficult weekend for Seattle
Clark was not the only injury concern to come out of the weekend. Mason Richman also limped off in the first quarter with what Macdonald called a major, long-term injury, while Jake Bobo suffered a knee injury in a joint practice with the Titans on Friday and was placed on injured reserve on Saturday.
Macdonald said the Seahawks had “two really tough injuries” in one day and later added: “We got three heartbreakers this weekend, which is tough.” He also praised the injured players as “two guys that we love that play our style of ball.”
For Seattle, the immediate focus now is simply getting through the rest of preseason without further damage. For Clark, the bigger challenge is recovery and the long road back after an injury that has already ended his summer before it really began.
