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Josh Jones Resurfaces, Says He’ll Be Full-Go for Camp
The guy nobody saw all spring just turned the lights back on. Reserve offensive lineman Josh Jones, who sat out every OTA and minicamp rep, said he has recovered from his knee injury and expects to be ready when training camp opens. Per Field Gulls, Jones said he’s heading back to Seattle to grind and put it plainly: he thinks he’ll be full-go at the start of camp.
This matters more than a depth-chart name usually would, because Macdonald wasn’t subtle about why Bobby Hart got signed the day before minicamp. The message then was that Jones simply wasn’t ready to practice. The message now, from Macdonald himself, is sharper: Josh needs to practice to compete with Bobby. That’s not insurance talk. That’s a job posting.
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On-field reps Jones took during OTAs and mandatory minicamp this spring.
Skipping the voluntary stuff is one thing. Skipping it when your head coach has publicly told the world you need reps to keep your job is a gamble, and Jones is betting on his knee holding up under a real camp workload. The injury almost certainly traces to the end of the championship run, when he filled in for Charles Cross and battled through ankle and knee problems before playing three snaps in the Super Bowl.
He re-signed on a $4 million deal to be the swing tackle behind Cross and Abe Lucas. That role only exists if the man behind it can actually get on the field in August. The good news is he sounds like a player who knows exactly what’s at stake.
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Training Camp
The Joint Practice Is Real, and It’s in Nashville
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This is the whole point of how Macdonald runs an August now. Seattle has leaned into scrimmages in a way the franchise hadn’t done in over three decades, using controlled joint practices to get starters meaningful reps against someone else’s defense without exposing them to the random violence of a game that doesn’t count. You get the look you want and you keep everyone upright. The preseason game becomes a formality.
For a roster trying to defend a title with a Hard Knocks crew filming the whole thing, the calendar is filling in nicely: camp at the VMAC, the Cowboys at Lumen, and a trip to Tennessee for the kind of practice that actually moves the needle.
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AROUND THE COOP
Around the Coop
Topps announced that Jaxon Smith-Njigba will be one of only five NFL players to wear a gold league patch next season, joining names like Stafford and Garrett. Fitting, since he led the league in receiving yards and walked off with Offensive Player of the Year. The patch is just the jewelry. The 1,793 yards were the argument. Heavy
Field Gulls broke down what makes or breaks Anthony Bradford in 2026, and the timing is loud. He’s holding off rookie Beau Stephens at right guard while nursing a minor knee from the spring. Nothing motivates a player quite like a draft pick who didn’t allow a quarterback hit in college sitting one locker over. Field Gulls
Field Gulls notes that Jake Bobo’s new contract presumes a bigger role in 2026. The folk hero who caught a touchdown with a cast on his hand in the NFC Championship is getting paid like he’s part of the plan, not the punchline. We’ve been telling you for two years. Field Gulls
NFC WEST SCHADENFREUDE REPORT
RAMS
The Rams kicked off their training-camp newcomer series with Trent McDuffie, the corner they pried from Kansas City in March for the No. 29 pick plus a fifth, a sixth, and a 2027 third. McVay’s selling point, per the team’s own site, is that you’re ‘seeing McDuffie all over’ the secondary. Translation: they spent a haul on a versatile defender and are still figuring out where to put him. We’ll find out where he lines up on Christmas Day.
NINERS
San Francisco’s big June energy is still ‘nuclear hot’ for Maxx Crosby, except now their own ecosystem is talking them out of it. Insider Mike Lombardi pointed out in a June 17 video that everyone has known the Niners are interested in great players ‘for months,’ which is the most damning kind of support. A team that managed 20 sacks all of last season can’t even get its own people excited about the fix.
SEACHICKENS TRIVIA
This linebacker went undrafted out of Southern in 1988, made the Pro Bowl as a rookie almost entirely on special teams, then posted 10.5 sacks the next season to prove it was no accident. Who is he?
Tap to Reveal the Answer
Rufus Porter. He earned two Pro Bowls across seven seasons in Seattle from 1988 to 1994, the first one built on special-teams havoc before he ever established himself as a pass rusher.
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Thirty-two days until the building fills back up. Count them if it helps. — The Rooster