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The Seattle Seahawks have already played one game without Cliff Avril this season and now it looks like they're going to have to play the rest of the way without their star defensive end.
During an interview with Sirius XM NFL Radio on Wednesday, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll announced that Avril would be placed injured reserve this week in a move that will officially end his season.
"Cliff Avril will go on IR," Carroll said. "He's seeing a bunch of doctors, seriously looking at a big decision."
That "big decision" Carroll's referring to is retirement. According to NFL.com, Avril is contemplating retirement due to the injury that he suffered in Seattle's 46-18 victory over the Colts in Week 4.
Avril suffered a freak injury in the game that led to numbness in his hands. During the first quarter, the Seahawks defensive end attempted to make a diving tackle on Colts quarterback Jacoby Brissett. In the process of making the tackle, Brissett's heel hit Avril on the chin, which caused Avril's head to snap back. The injury has led to a neck and spine issue for Avril, who hasn't played since.
A few days after the game, Carroll didn't sound optimistic about Avril's chances of returning in 2017.
"Could be [long term]," Carroll said Oct. 4, via the Seattle Times. "Could be. We are going to go very slowly and make sure that he takes all the opportunity to talk to as many people as he wants to to make sure he knows what he's got and what we need to do with it. We are just going to take care of him and make sure that he is well. 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."
One of Avril's good friends, Michael Bennett, told the Times on Wednesday that it hasn't been easy for Avril to deal with the reality that his career might be over.
"I think it's a hard situation," Bennett said. "I think any time you do something for a long period of time and it gets taken away from you and you can't walk away from it the way you want to walk away from it, it's a stressful thing."
Avril is coming off the best season of his career. In 2016, the Seahawks defensive racked up 11.5 sacks and earned the first Pro Bowl berth of his 10-year career. The 31-year-old Avril started his career in Detroit after the Lions made him a third-round pick in the 2008 NFL Draft out of Purdue. Avril spent five seasons with the Lions before signing with the Seahawks in 2013.