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Camp
Drew Lock Went and Had Himself an Afternoon
The best quarterback on the grass at Saturday’s Back Together Weekend practice was the one who does not start. Drew Lock capped a touchdown drive with a back-shoulder throw to Tory Horton, then came right back and hit Horton again with a dart over the middle. Seahawks.com’s summary of the day put it about as plainly as a team website ever does: Lock can absolutely spin it.
Horton was the beneficiary all afternoon. He scored twice on consecutive drives in team work, and the first one was a snatch, going up over 5-foot-10 cornerback Shemar Jean-Charles to rip the ball out of the air in the end zone. Saturday was his fourth practice in a row and his sixth of the seven this camp, which for a receiver who finished last season on a cracked tibia is the actual headline hiding underneath the highlights.
Lock has been here longer than most people remember. He arrived in the 2022 trade that sent Russell Wilson to Denver, spent 2024 with the Giants, came back, and is now heading into his fourth season in Seattle. The arm that made him a second-round pick in 2019 has never been the problem.
Nobody is confused about the depth chart. Sam Darnold is the starter, he threw Horton’s other touchdown on Saturday, and there is no controversy to manufacture here no matter how badly August wants one. But a defending champion carries exactly one nightmare into every season, and it is the one where the starter’s ankle rolls the wrong way in Week 6.
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The most boring thing a Super Bowl team can own is a backup quarterback who is actually good. Boring is the entire point.
That is what Saturday was: insurance, in pads, throwing strikes in front of a full house.
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Tight Ends
Elijah Arroyo Caught Three Touchdowns and Made the Safeties Look Silly
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This is the second big day Arroyo has stacked in a week, and the timing is not an accident. Brian Fleury spent seven years in San Francisco, the last four coaching tight ends, and the position is getting used accordingly. Seattle also brought Nick Vannett back before camp, which tells you the front office expects to need bodies at the spot.
Two safeties passing a tight end back and forth in the end zone is exactly the problem this offense was built to create. Nice of the defense to volunteer for the demonstration.
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AROUND THE COOP
Around the Coop
Seattle signed linebacker Joseph Vaughn on Saturday and waived injured linebacker Ja’Markis Weston to clear the 90-man spot. Weston never got a padded practice. Vaughn gets three weeks to change a coaching staff’s mind, which is more than most people get. Seattle Sports
There is an official Hard Knocks watch party Tuesday at Victory Hall at The Boxyard, doors at 2 p.m. and the episode at 6 p.m. PT. Four hours of pregame for a television show. Somewhere a Bengals fan is reading that sentence and feeling things. Seattle Sports
Mike Macdonald would not get specific on injuries but said Jake Bobo and Julian Neal should be back soon. The August medical report remains a genre where the coach tells you nothing and you thank him for it. ESPN
NFC WEST SCHADENFREUDE REPORT
NINERS
Ricky Pearsall’s season is over before a snap. John Lynch confirmed Saturday that the receiver needs surgery on the knee that has been swelling since camp opened, put him on season-ending injured reserve, and filled the roster spot by officially signing Deebo Samuel, the receiver San Francisco shipped out last year. “He’s gutted. We’re gutted,” Lynch said. The 49ers’ 2026 plan has quietly become a series of corrections to the 2025 plan.
CARDINALS
Arizona’s padded practice on Friday ended early for defensive lineman Walter Nolen III, who took himself out favoring his leg. He is the young lineman this rebuild keeps promising is about to arrive. He has now spent more of his career being an update than being a problem for anybody.
SEACHICKENS TRIVIA
This defensive end came to Seattle in a March 2010 trade that sent Darryl Tapp to Philadelphia, then posted three straight seasons of 11 or more sacks as the Leo in Pete Carroll’s defense. Who is he?
Tap to Reveal the Answer
Chris Clemons. Seattle got him and a fourth-round pick for Tapp, who managed six sacks in three years with the Eagles while Clemons piled up 33.5 over the same stretch.
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Kids Day Tuesday, Hard Knocks Tuesday night. Circle it. — The Rooster