Seattle Seahawks training camp, Day 4: Injury news, notes, quotes, and highlights

The final non-padded practice of Seattle Seahawks training camp took place on Saturday, but unfortunately not everyone came away unscathed. By far the biggest story of the day was the potentially serious injury to one of Seattle’s running backs.

Let’s recap the day’s events.

News

Kenny McIntosh believed to have season-ending ACL injury

The third-string running back and kick returner, who lost much of his rookie season due to a knee sprain, may lose all of his third season to a torn ACL. McIntosh suffered the injury during a special teams rep. Gregg Bell of the Tacoma News Tribune says he “was running in open field alongside teammate Tyler Hall during a special-teams coverage and tackle-angle drill when his knee gave out.” It’s nevertheless bad news for McIntosh and impacts Seattle’s running back and special teams depth.

Notes and Quotes

Jarran Reed, DeMarcus Lawrence get the day off

Shaquill Griffin is still away from camp due to a personal matter and Uchenna Nwosu, Johnathan Hankins, and Rylie Mills are on injury lists. Of the healthy and available players, the big fella in the middle of the defensive line evidently got to chill on Saturday, as did DeMarcus Lawrence.

Elijah Arroyo stands out in training camp

Noah Fant’s departure paved the way for an immediately significant role for second-round pick Elijah Arroyo, who was the fifth tight end taken in the NFL Draft. The Seahawks have, shall we say, a very underwhelming history at the TE position, with Jimmy Graham holding all of the franchise records while playing less than three seasons with the team. Hopefully, Arroyo can be that long-term answer at the position. So far, so good with his training camp performances.

Sam Darnold slings it, receivers don’t always catch it

The Seahawks’ new starting quarterback has had some highs and lows throughout camp, as is expected on a new team and learning a new offense. It’s also training camp, for crying out loud. Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times considered Saturday to be Darnold’s best day of camp, but as SeahawksDraftBlog.com contributor Curtis Allen noted, not every pass was caught.

Speaking of tight ends…

Don’t forget about second-year player A.J. Barner, who made good on some red zone plays. He led Seattle’s TEs with four touchdowns last season, all of which came in the red zone. Hopefully Seattle is much better this year than we’ve seen throughout the Geno Smith era.

Charles Cross provides contract extension update

Mike Macdonald didn’t have any media availability, so all of the podium time was split among Derick Hall, Leonard Williams, and Charles Cross. The big news concerning Seattle’s left tackle is his contract situation. Seattle picked up Cross’ fifth-year option, which puts him under contract through 2026, and also buys some time on a contract extension.

Have those negotiations started yet?

“No, not yet,” Cross said. “But I’m just focused on this upcoming season and working for the upcoming season.

“I’m just focused on being the best player I can be for the team and the team’s success.”

Cross also added that he wants to be in Seattle for his whole career.

Committing to running the ball may be more than just talk

Here’s a line from Leonard Williams on what he’s seeing out of Seattle’s new-look offense.

“They are definitely running the ball, which I like to see. We have some great running backs. They’re an outside zone, stretch type of team so it’s hard for me sometimes, getting in my stance and you don’t know whether the guard and tackle are going to run that way or this way, you have to get adjusted to that.”

‘Big Cat’ notably won a rep against rookie left guard Grey Zabel, but he does that to even the most experienced high-level guards. Welcome to the NFL, Grey!

It looks all but clear that there is no more fullback competition

Robbie Ouzts vs. Brady Russell at fullback? That might be finished. Russell has been working with the tight ends, as is his natural position, whereas Ouzts seems to have unencumbered path to becoming the starting fullback. Gregg Bell noted that Ouzts has been working with the first- and third-team.

This doesn’t mean Brady Russell is a goner, but if he’s to make the team it’ll be as a tight end. No more Noah Fant is surely to Russell’s benefit as either a TE3 or a TE4.

Highlights

More Bobo!

Looking smooth, rookie!

The Seahawks will take Sunday off before returning to the practice field on Monday, July 28 at 1 pm PT. Don’t forget that Field Gulls will be traveling to training camp for Friday, Aug. 1 and Saturday, Aug. 2! It’s more fun when we can write our own first-hand notes and not aggregating almost everything.