Day 6 of training camp practice and Day 2 of padded practices are complete for the Seattle Seahawks. It was another opportunity for Seahawks fans to watch their favorite team prep for the regular season, and they left wowed by one special highlight from one of the stars of the team.
Here’s a recap of Tuesday’s session.
News
A pair of veterans sit out practice
Left guard Laken Tomlinson and defensive lineman Leonard Williams did not participate in drills, but they were both rest days according to Mike Macdonald. Nothing to see here, and you’ll find out that it was beneficial for those two to take the day off.
Mike Morris and Dre’Mont Jones out with injuries, but rookie returns
These were not rest days for Morris and Jones. Last week, Jones nicked his hamstring and the team is taking precautions as far as his return to practice. As for Morris, who missed almost all of last year due to a shoulder injury, Coach Macdonald said, “I think it was like an elbow or something yesterday. I don’t believe it’s serious.”
On the plus side, cornerback D.J. James is back in the fold after missing a few practices. The former Auburn starter started camp on the Non-Football Injury (NFI) list but was quickly activated after passing a physical.
Notes
Offense dons championship belt for the day
After another intense battle between the offense and defense, it was the offense that Mike Macdonald deemed the winner. The reward is the championship belt, which was sported by left tackle Charles Cross. By all accounts, Cross has been one of the standout performers in training camp.
According to Macdonald, this was Geno Smith’s idea to give the belt to Cross.
“Shoutout to Geno (Smith), I was talking to him. Well, offense won the game and he said ‘Give it to an o-lineman. Charles (Cross) (has) been having a great camp.’ The belt is something that’s kind of fun to just mix it up and spice it up throughout camp. You know, ‘who’s holding the belt?” And then we can change the criteria of how you challenge it. We got a bunch of them. They’re legitimate belts, they’re kind of heavy. They’re pretty sweet-looking but I think the guys get excited about it. It means something to carry that thing around the building for a day or two as you’re the through, not around champion right now, as the offense is, which is pretty cool.”
Don’t forget about Riq
From Corbin Smith’s on-site report on third-year cornerback Riq Woolen:
After Metcalf and Woolen got into a heated exchange and had to be separated during Monday’s practice, the two former Pro Bowlers kept getting under each other’s skin, starting in one-on-one drills. Working his way back towards Smith on a curl route, Metcalf looked to have an easy completion, only for Woolen to sneak his left arm in front for a pass breakup while drawing a questionable holding penalty from the on-site official, drawing ire from the defender.
Moments later, Woolen undercut Metcalf on a crossing route and showed off his sub-4.30 speed, reaching in front for another outstanding pass deflection. Overall, the third-year defender got a piece of three passes on Tuesday afternoon and didn’t allow any notable catches, continuing to rebound from a somewhat disappointing sophomore season with a stellar camp.
Macdonald saw “iron sharpening iron” when Woolen faced off against the top receivers on the team. After a dip in performance last season, the hope is that Woolen can find his best form and then some in Macdonald’s defense.
Rookies get important reps
With no Leonard Williams or Laken Tomlinson practicing, that meant more (presumably) respective first-team reps for first-round pick Byron Murphy II and third-round selection Christian Haynes. In Haynes’ case, he played at left guard, even though he was a right guard in college. There hasn’t been much to indicate he’ll get the starting right guard job over Anthony Bradford or even McClendon Curtis, but it’s still early days.
We only wish we had a highlight of Murphy’s strength in action.
2nd day of 1-on-1 pass rush in full pads at #Seahawks camp: Rookie 1st-rd pick Byron Murphy ran over, Mack-style, C Nick Harris for free pass to the QB.
Rookie G Christian Haynes, rookie T Mike Jerrell have looked really good both days the pads have been on @thenewstribune
— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) July 30, 2024
Situation drill!
Are you freaking out about the Seahawks not getting it done in the red zone again? Maybe don’t do that. But this is still a notable thing that happened at camp that, based on Bob Condotta’s words, wasn’t something Pete Carroll did in his practices. Advantage: Defense.
Seahawks just did something I’ve never seen in a camp here before, where a “mystery” situation was created and the 1 offense had to go against the 1 defense, first-and-10 at the defense’s 15 and 12 seconds put on the clock. 3 straight passes into the end zone were incomplete…
— Bob Condotta (@bcondotta) July 30, 2024
… Artie Burns batted down a pass to JSN, a pass to Metcalf then went over his head under tight coverage from Witherspoon, Woolen — having a good camp — then batted down a pass to Lockett. Another good day for defense.
— Bob Condotta (@bcondotta) July 30, 2024
Coach Macdonald on the impromptu scenario:
“It’s something now that most of our situation installs in that just keeps us on our toes. More reps for myself, (Ryan) Grubb, [research analyst] Brian (Eayrs) working operation. Just identifying the situation, the guys understanding what they’re in. And then just kind of apply the tools that we’ve installed up to this point where everyone’s got to stay on their toes. So it’s fun, it’s a good situation. We’ll do that probably the rest of camp.”
Highlight
DK Metcalf one-ups Jake Bobo
We already have a separate article written up by Field Gulls’ own Gavin Feek, but are you really going to complain about seeing this absurd DK Metcalf one-handed touchdown catch again? Look at this catch!
The Seahawks return to the field on Wednesday. This session is not available to the public, but there will be open practices on Aug. 1-2, and then the Football Fan Fest at Lumen Field on Aug. 3.
