Seahawks Rumors: Tariq Woolen Suffered Knee Injury Walking on Field, Had Surgery

Seattle Seahawks cornerback Tariq Woolen will reportedly be sidelined until training camp with a knee injury that required arthroscopic surgery, per ESPN's Adam Schefter and Brady Henderson.

According to the report, Woolen suffered the injury while he was walking on the team's practice field. He underwent surgery Tuesday, "which went as well as doctors could have hoped."

Woolen was one of the NFL's breakout stars last season.

Seattle selected him with a fifth-round pick out of Texas-San Antonio in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL draft, and he wasted little time establishing himself as one of the most important players on the defense even as a rookie.

He finished the year with 63 tackles, a league-best six interceptions, three fumble recoveries and one defensive touchdown while appearing in all 17 games, which earned him a spot on the NFC's Pro Bowl roster.

Seattle went to back-to-back Super Bowls and won one during the 2013 and 2014 seasons in large part because of the dominance of the Legion of Boom secondary.

It surely had that in mind when it selected Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon with the No. 5 overall pick of this year's NFL draft to pair him with Woolen. It wouldn't be a surprise if the tandem develops into the best one-two cornerback punch in the league in the coming years, which would elevate the Seahawks' ceiling in the NFC West.

Keeping Woolen healthy is a part of that, but Seattle fans can at least take solace in the fact this injury took place early in the offseason and kept him on track to return in time for training camp.