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Hard Knocks
The Most Revealing Minute of Hard Knocks Was a Phone Call
Seattle’s first episode of Hard Knocks aired Tuesday night, and the moment that actually mattered had nothing to do with football. John Schneider appeared on camera to address the Devon Witherspoon negotiation and Ian Rapoport’s report that Seattle was working to make him the highest-paid cornerback in the league. Per Field Gulls’ running recap, Schneider described his response like this: “I called Ian and was like, ‘Hey you need to call the agent and tell them that’s not f—king coming from us.”
Read that twice. The general manager of a Super Bowl champion agreed to let HBO film him walking back a flattering report about his own player, because a flattering report about your own player is a number you now have to beat. Witherspoon, for his part, sounded like a man who has learned to let the grown-ups argue. “My mind is go win football games, bro,” he said, adding the negotiations are not really on his mind.
The rest of the hour was Macdonald with the volume up. He was visibly unhappy watching explosive runs come out the back of his defense, and the episode caught him saying so in language you cannot print in a family newsletter. He was also unhappy about a needless Derick Hall chokeslam of Bryce Cabeldue, which earned a conversation with Aden Durde. Hall hugged it out afterward. Nobody was fooled.
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The general manager of the Super Bowl champions went on HBO to un-report a report about his own player.
The softer material landed too. SI noted Macdonald bringing up the 1990s Bulls in his address to the team, which is a specific and slightly ominous thing to raise with a room that just won one. The cold open was the ring ceremony, Leonard Williams getting emotional, and Sam Darnold opening his box and dropping the ring out of it. Six months removed from the best night of his life, still fumbling the jewelry.
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Camp
Brian Fleury Watched the Run Game and Said the Quiet Thing Out Loud
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That is a coordinator telling you he does not care that the play worked. He cares about where eleven people were standing when it worked. With Zach Charbonnet still recovering and a rookie taking lead reps, “not there yet” is the honest grade.
The defense, meanwhile, decided it had heard enough. Tuesday was Seattle’s third full-pads session of camp, held under thick wildfire smoke blown west from the fires in Spokane. In the scrimmage work at the end, the first-team defense went three-and-out against the first-team offense on the opening series, with Nehemiah Pritchett covering Rashid Shaheed tightly enough on third and long that Darnold could not get there. Pritchett, by the way, now looks like the man winning the third cornerback job.
Wednesday’s air quality forecast is worse, and practice could move indoors. Everyone in Renton is fine. Everyone in Spokane is not, and that is worth holding onto while we argue about blocking angles.
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AROUND THE COOP
Around the Coop
Seattle signed edge rusher Garrett Nelson, a former Nebraska pass rusher with two UFL seasons in San Antonio, and waived receiver Kyre Duplessis to make room. Duplessis lasted one week. Schneider is still shopping for pass rushers in the clearance aisle, and honestly, so would you. Field Gulls
Nick Emmanwori is getting around the facility on a scooter after ankle surgery, and asked Macdonald about being seen that way: “I don’t want to scoot around, have the fans see me.” Macdonald told him the priority is what’s best for him and the team. Vanity is a healthy sign in a rehab. SI
The Blue Angels flew over a padded practice during Seafair week and Macdonald abandoned coaching entirely: “Yes, America! Blue Angels, baby, let’s go!” Fans came to watch the Seahawks practice. The Seahawks stopped to watch someone else practice. OutKick
The other Witherspoon retired Tuesday. Ahkello Witherspoon lost a camp battle here in 2021 and got shipped to Pittsburgh for a fifth-rounder, which Seattle spent on Mike Morris, who played every game of the title run. Losing a roster spot in Renton has rarely been so productive for everyone involved. Field Gulls
NFC WEST SCHADENFREUDE REPORT
NINERS
San Francisco’s camp has stopped producing depth charts and started producing paperwork. Defensive end Mikail Kamara tore an ACL at Saturday’s practice, got waived with an injury designation, cleared waivers, and reverted to injured reserve by Monday. That is a full career arc inside 48 hours. The 49ers are eleven days into camp and already filing more transactions than reps.
CARDINALS
The best thing happening to Arizona football this week is a receiver who has not played since 2020. Larry Fitzgerald goes into the Hall of Fame in Canton this weekend, and the Cardinals will be in town for their sixth Hall of Fame Game, a series in which they are 1-3-1. They have not appeared in it since 2017. A franchise that gets to celebrate its history in a stadium it does not play in, then start a season it does not expect to enjoy.
SEACHICKENS TRIVIA
This return specialist arrived from the Jets in 2010 for a fifth-round pick, then returned second-half kickoffs 101 and 99 yards for touchdowns in a single September game against the Chargers. Who is he?
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Leon Washington. He came to Seattle with a metal rod in his right leg from a 2009 broken leg, which is exactly why New York let him go for a fifth-rounder.
Got a Question? Ask It.
The mailbag is open and mildly unhinged. Contracts, roster math, whether Fleury is going to fix the run game, whether HBO should be allowed to film contract negotiations at all. Send it in and I will answer it honestly, which is not always the same as helpfully.
Check the air quality before you drive out to Renton this afternoon. The berm can wait a day. — The Rooster