TOP STORIES
Camp
Smith-Njigba Came to Life in the Smoke
The reigning Offensive Player of the Year spent Wednesday afternoon reminding a hazy berm exactly what he is. Jaxon Smith-Njigba hauled in a fully extended toe-tapping catch at the sideline that was ruled incomplete, then overturned after a practice “challenge,” which is an extremely silly sentence to write about the first week of August and also the best thing that happened in football yesterday.
“It was great, it was great to see him come to life,” Macdonald said, per Seahawks.com. Then he got to the part that actually matters: “And high-leverage situations too, and especially when there’s defensive attention on where he’s at at all times.” Everyone in the building knows where 11 is at all times. It does not appear to help them.
The live question was never whether he’s good, it’s what Brian Fleury does with him. Macdonald said they feel like Smith-Njigba can get open “from wherever, doing whatever,” and that he will be “number one in the progression on a lot of plays.” The thing they’re still solving, out loud, is when it’s better for him not to be there at all. That’s the motion offense finally attached to a human being instead of a whiteboard.
All of this happened in 88 degrees, 40 percent humidity, no breeze and smoke blown west from the Spokane wildfires, across a practice that ran close to three hours. Macdonald called it “probably our longest to date, our hottest to date.” One oddity: in 7-on-7 work, Smith-Njigba kept running deep at Josh Jobe and Sam Darnold never hit him. Felt like a bug in the software.
88°
Wednesday’s temperature at the VMAC, with 40 percent humidity, no breeze and wildfire smoke, for the longest practice of camp.
SOURCES →
Defense
The Old Guys Closed the Building
Keep Reading ↓
Williams is 32, in his 12th NFL training camp, six months removed from his first ring, with a newborn at home and roughly $160 million in career earnings, and he was still two and a half hours into a smoky Wednesday wrecking three consecutive plays in the backfield to close a scrimmage period. Nobody made him do that.
“
A man with a ring, a newborn and $160 million in career earnings spent hour three of a smoky Wednesday ruining plays for sport.
Derick Hall, who plays outside of all this and benefits enormously from it, put the group’s value plainly to Seahawks.com: “They mean everything. I told those guys last week, ‘Y’all cannot leave until I’m done, so y’all need to figure out another 10 years to your career.’” Hall is 25. He is asking a 32-year-old to sign up through 2036. Honestly, fair.
SOURCES →
AROUND THE COOP
Around the Coop
Edge rusher Garrett Nelson was waived Wednesday, one day after signing. Seattle cut receiver Kyre Duplessis to make room for him last week. In came running back T.J. Harden, released by Cleveland this week, and cornerback Jordan Washington. Nelson didn’t get a full 48 hours. Somebody’s locker nameplate is being written in pencil. Yahoo Sports
The National Weather Service has an air quality alert running through Thursday at 5 p.m. for King, Kitsap, Pierce, Snohomish, Mason, Grays Harbor and Thurston counties, with smoke pushed in from the Spokane-area fires. The Seahawks ran their longest practice of camp in it. Macdonald: “How we practice no matter the circumstance is non-negotiable.” Cool. Cool cool cool. KING 5
Nehemiah Pritchett appears to be winning the third cornerback job, with tight coverage on Rashid Shaheed helping force a three-and-out in Tuesday’s starters-versus-starters work while rookie Julian Neal stays sidelined. Riq Woolen’s old snaps are quietly being absorbed by a guy nobody drafted a headline for. Field Gulls
NFC WEST SCHADENFREUDE REPORT
RAMS
Los Angeles is rationing Matthew Stafford. Heading into year 18, he has a formal camp plan: he practices on the second and fourth days of each four-day block and rests the rest. Davante Adams is on a similar allowance. Sean McVay’s explanation: “We’ve got to pull them back and protect them from [themselves] because they just want to work.” The Super Bowl favorites are running a spa week with a whistle, and the whole season still hinges on their quarterback getting through 17 games upright.
SEACHICKENS TRIVIA
Seattle traded up in the fifth round of the 2018 draft to select a punter from Sydney, Australia, who had just won the Ray Guy Award at Texas and who went on to earn first-team All-Pro honors as a rookie. Who is he?
Tap to Reveal the Answer
Michael Dickson. Teams don’t trade up for punters, and Seattle did it anyway, then got an All-Pro rookie season and a man who started dropkicking kickoffs in actual NFL games because he could.
Got a Question? Feed It to Me.
The mailbag runs on you. Contract math, roster bubbles, grudges you’ve held since the Kingdome, all of it welcome. Include your name and neighborhood so I can introduce you properly.
Today's a rest day in Renton. Saturday the whole operation moves to Lumen, and I'll be the one squinting from the upper deck. — The Rooster