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Injury
Macdonald Smiled and Told Everyone He Just Doesn’t Want to Say
Jake Bobo’s season officially ended Saturday when Seattle placed him on injured reserve, two days after he came down wrong on a leaping catch in the joint practice with Tennessee. Everybody who watched the cart roll out saw that coming. The part nobody can explain is Tory Horton.
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Receivers Seattle lost out of a single Friday practice in Nashville.
Asked Friday about Horton, Macdonald said he’s “still working through his stuff” and “going to be out for a period of time.” Asked what the actual injury is, per Pro Football Talk, the coach smiled and said: “Sorry, I just don’t want to tell you.”
Teams owe nobody an injury disclosure until the Week 1 reports come out, so this is entirely within the rules. It’s also Horton, whose rookie season ended with surgery on a fractured shin, and “a period of time” from a coach who won’t name a body part is not a phrase that helps anyone sleep. Nobody has said whether this is a setback or something brand new.
He was not cryptic about Bobo. “He’s a beast, man,” Macdonald told reporters. “Just a great football player, a great Seahawk.”
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A head coach smiling while he declines to name a body part is the most information anybody got all week.
Seattle’s receiver room was supposed to be four names deep before anyone had to think hard: Smith-Njigba, Kupp, Shaheed, Horton. One of those four is out indefinitely and the guy behind them is done for the year. Somebody in the back of that room is about to get handed a job in Nashville tonight, and he probably found out this weekend.
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Preseason
Tennessee Is Playing Its Starters Tonight. Seattle Probably Isn’t.
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That’s the tradeoff for Friday. “We got a lot of reps in,” Macdonald said after the joint practice, which is coach for we already played this game and nobody had to get carted anywhere. Except somebody did, which rather undercuts the whole argument for the format, but here we are.
The one name worth staying up for is Jadarian Price. The rookie first-rounder missed a chunk of camp with upper-leg soreness, has been back on the field for about a week, and looked like the player Seattle drafted on Friday. A series or two is the realistic ceiling tonight. Take it. This is the only opponent on the preseason slate Seattle doesn’t see again in the regular season, so the tape is worth something and nothing at the same time.
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AROUND THE COOP
Around the Coop
Julian Hicks signed with Seattle last weekend, got waived to make room for Trevon Diggs, and was re-signed Saturday as the corresponding move for Bobo’s IR placement. Three transactions in eight days. I’d advise him against unpacking, but at this rate he’ll be a starter by Thursday. Seahawks.com
Up to two receiver jobs are suddenly live behind the locks, with Cody White, Montorie Foster Jr., Ricky White III and rookie Emmanuel Henderson Jr. lined up roughly in that pecking order. Four guys, two chairs, one nationally televised job interview on FOX tonight. The Spokesman-Review
The nickel job is still open. “It’s still rolling,” Macdonald said. “Noah’s right there, Mighty’s (Pritchett) right there. Got a couple of other guys in the mix.” One of the couple of other guys is a former All-Pro who led the league in interceptions. Tough room. Seahawks.com
Tennessee came out of Friday’s joint practice feeling genuinely encouraged about how it handled the defending champions. Every team in America is encouraged in August. The standings start in three weeks and encouragement doesn’t get a column. Field Gulls
NFC WEST SCHADENFREUDE REPORT
RAMS
Los Angeles beat New Orleans 34-0 at SoFi on Saturday and moved to 2-0 in the preseason, all of it accomplished while McVay kept every player who matters in a baseball cap on the sideline. So the Rams are currently undefeated with the roster they’re about to cut. That’s either the deepest team in football or the most elaborate way ever devised to learn nothing about your own football team. Ask me again on Christmas.
CARDINALS
Arizona hosted Dallas on Saturday and lost 34-13, which is a fairly loud result for a game nobody is supposed to care about. Mike LaFleur’s postgame explanation: “It was the culmination of our week. We had a sloppy week of practice.” A head coach who diagnoses his own team publicly is refreshing. A head coach who has to is something else.
SEACHICKENS TRIVIA
This Missouri product was Seattle’s second-round pick in 2014, started at right tackle as a rookie for a team that reached the Super Bowl, moved inside to guard, and finished his six-year Seahawks run at center. Who is he?
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Justin Britt. He played three different positions in his first three seasons before the coaching staff finally found the one that fit, and he became one of the leaders of the offensive line once he got there.
Got a Question? Ask It.
The mailbag is open and the offseason is nearly over, which means your last chance to ask something purely hypothetical is closing fast. Roster math, cap questions, grudges you’ve been nursing since January. Send them in.
Five o'clock in Nashville. Watch the fifth receiver. — The Rooster