John Schneider Comments on NFL's Investigation of Richard Sherman Injury

Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider said Thursday the team "didn't do anything that was malicious at all" regarding cornerback Richard Sherman not being placed on the injury report this season despite a lingering knee injury. 

"We feel like we didn't do anything that was out of the norm or trying to avoid any rules by any stretch of the imagination," Schneider said on SiriusXM NFL Radio. "You have to manage the player, and not the MRI. ... And that's what we did. He never missed [a game or practice]." 

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll revealed on 710 ESPN Seattle's Brock and Salk Show that Sherman suffered a "legit" knee injury sometime in the middle of the season. The injury was not disclosed on any injury report, though Carroll said it weighed on Sherman mentally.

"I don't even remember what game it was, it was somewhere in the middle…I don’t know," Carroll said, per Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. "He was fine about it. He didn't miss anything. The same with (quarterback) Russell (Wilson), he was fine about it. I don't know how they do that, but they did."

Carroll said Sherman would not need offseason surgery.

The NFL launched an investigation into Seattle's handling of the injury report immediately after Carroll's comments. ESPN.com's Chris Mortensen reported the NFL was considering docking the Seahawks a second-round pick in the draft. It would be an elevation of the fifth-round draft choice the team had already lost for repeated violations of offseason training rules.

"I heard some foolishness like that. That's just unfortunate," Sherman told ESPN's Sal Paolantonio of the penalty. "I think they kind of are a little too hard on our team for no reason. I think if there's other teams that kind of just got docked for the same thing, so it's going to be curious how they treat the other teams."

Sherman has never missed a regular-season game in his six NFL seasons. He recorded 58 tackles and four interceptions in 2016, earning his fourth straight Pro Bowl selection. However, Sherman was not named to an All-Pro team for the first time since 2011.