Hawks vs. the Tits game thread

[D-train]

Doing this early because it seems the real "game" actually happened. All of the starters played in the scrimmage and won't play in the game on Saturday. Please tell me how that makes sense to the paying customers that are going to the game.

By Bob Condotta
Seattle Times staff reporter
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The joint practices the Seahawks are holding with the Tennessee Titans on Wednesday and Thursday also figure to serve as Geno Smith’s preseason.

Coach Mike Macdonald has already said starters likely won’t play in Saturday’s preseason game, and that might hold true for the preseason finale against Cleveland on Aug. 24 in Seattle.

But the goal with joint practices isn’t just to work on the schemes of new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb. It’s also to prepare starters for the gamelike challenges they’ll face once the regular season begins.

One example?

Both sides created a situation at the end of Wednesday’s practice for a lengthy, late-game drive with Seattle’s offense going against Tennessee’s defense. A play would be run, the whistle blew and the ball was re-spotted, assuring that the drive would take a lot of plays and time.

After two George Holani running plays were ruled to be stopped at the line, the Seahawks faced a final third-and-goal at the 6-yard line.

Smith hit DK Metcalf on a slant pass as Metcalf broke open on a well-executed pick play, with Jake Bobo helping run perfect — and perfectly legal, in the eyes of the officials — interference.

Metcalf was judged to have been stopped a yard short of the end zone as he dived over the line when touched by Tennessee safety Elijah Molden, a former standout at the University of Washington.

“From my vantage point, it would be hard to tackle DK at the 1,” Smith said with a smile. “But we don’t know.”

Up Next - Titans WR Calvin Ridley following joint practice with the Seahawks, says that it could have gone better.
Metcalf’s reaction indicated that he did know, and that he wouldn’t have been.

The session ended there, the goal of the Seattle No. 1 offense running a roughly 12-play drive at the end of almost 2 1/2 hours of work.

“So valuable,” Smith said of the last drive. “It’s important for us to get those drives in and get ourselves fatigued and be able to think out there. That’s when it really matters, those 12-play drives, long drives. You’re playing a complete game, your body is going to wear down. So the more you can get to it out here and feel what that feels like, the better you’ll be and the more you can push through it in the game.”

It was also evidence that Smith is past the knee and hip injuries suffered that kept him out for four camp practices, including the annual workout at Lumen Field.

Smith returned to practice after three days of tests revealed no significant injuries.

Smith said afterward he feels “pretty good.”

In his first comments to the media since missing those practices, Smith said the injuries are “nothing to worry about. Just good that I’m pretty healthy and was able to figure some things out.”

Woolen impresses Tennessee receiver
A strong training camp for third-year cornerback Riq Woolen continued Wednesday. Woolen had a couple of pass breakups when matched up against veteran Tennessee receiver Calvin Ridley in one-on-ones, something Ridley had no problem admitting afterward. Ridley told the assembled media it was “not that good [of a] day” afterward.

He was asked his impression of Woolen.

“Is that number 27?” Ridley responded. Told it was, Ridley said: “He’s pretty good. He’s tall as crap. Tall, long arms. That’s a pretty good corner, man. Looks like he’s fast, too. So pretty good day, yeah, pretty good.”

But in what makes joint practices uniquely interesting, both get another chance to match up Thursday.

Asked the challenge of going against a cornerback as tall as the 6-foot-4 Woolen, the 6-1 Ridley said: “(It’s) not a challenge. Just got to work on technique. Come out here tomorrow and get him.”

Dre’Mont Jones again leaves practice
Monday marked the first full practice for Seahawks defensive lineman Dre’Mont Jones since he suffered a hamstring injury July 26. Jones started Wednesday’s practice against the Titans but didn’t finish it, heading to the sideline midway through.

Macdonald, though, indicated it’s not serious.

“I think he felt a little tweak or something where he didn’t finish practice, but I think he’s good to go,” Macdonald said.

Other injury notes:

WR Tyler Lockett was in pads and worked to the side, but he did not take part in one-on-one or team drills. “He’s got a little something going on in his leg right now,” Macdonald said. “But he’s good. Tyler will be ready to roll.”
TE Noah Fant was limited, leaving Pharaoh Brown and Brady Russell to do most of the work. “Don’t have any info on that right now,” Macdonald said of Fant.
RB Zach Charbonnet did not practice. “He was tight this morning, so we’re trying to figure out what’s going on with him,” Macdonald said.
WLB Jerome Baker did not practice and has missed more than a week because of a hamstring injury. Rookie Tyrice Knight started at weakside linebacker.
WR Dee Eskridge and LB Jon Rhattigan, who missed practice Monday, remained out.
OLB Darrell Taylor and CB Michael Jackson Jr., out because of injuries before returning Monday, appeared to take part fully.
The Seahawks re-signed rookie LB Easton Gibbs, waiving DL Nathan Pickering as injured to make room on the roster. Gibbs, who was waived by the Seahawks on July 31 and signed and waived by the Steelers, worked with the backup units at ILB.
Notes
Center Connor Williams (knee) made the trip to Nashville after joining the Seahawks on Monday. But he is not ready to practice and watched Wednesday from the sideline.
According to ESPN, Williams’ one-year deal includes a $1.75 million signing bonus, a $1.23 million guaranteed base salary, $510,000 in per-game roster bonuses and $2.51 million in incentives, adding up to the $6 million potential. The bonuses include $1 million for playing 75% or more of Seattle’s snaps this season and $1 million if he plays that much and Seattle makes the playoffs. Williams suffered an ACL injury Dec. 11.
With Charbonnet out, Holani — an undrafted rookie free agent from Boise State — worked with the starting offense alongside Kenneth Walker III. Kenny McIntosh worked with the second unit, and that appeared to indicate Holani is the third running back for now.
Raiqwon O’Neal, who has played guard and tackle, is being used as the third-team center behind Olu Oluwatimi and Jalen Sundell. But that order will change when Williams begins practice.
During the punting session, Seattle’s order of returners was Dee Williams, Easop Winston Jr., and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
In one interesting two-play sequence, Tennessee’s Jeffery Simmons broke through for a clear sack of Smith. Seattle responded with a play-action pass that resulted in Smith hitting Smith-Njigba about 40 yards downfield — though Simmons again had some pressure and complained that he was held, and that he should have had a sack. “That’s football,” Smith said. “Always playing the next play. You don’t want to have any negative plays, but if you do, it’s always good to respond in a big way.”

[D-train]

https://sports.betmgm.com/en/blog/nfl/s ... eason-sgc/

[Donn Beach]

Yeah, believe scrimaging is considered more valuable than preseason games

[Sibelius Hindemith]

I take it the QBs wear special jerseys so they won't be hit in the scrimmages?

[D-train]

Yeah, believe scrimaging is considered more valuable than preseason games

Seems odd but it does seem they agree with this.

[D-train]

https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1781100/ ... takeaways/

• This past Saturday, the Seahawks began the Mike Macdonald era with a smothering defensive performance in a 16-3 preseason-opening win over the Los Angeles Chargers. Wyman said Seattle’s defense was impressive again on Wednesday.

“They just look much more organized and purposeful (than years past),” Wyman said. “… I didn’t see any big breakaway (from the Titans). Pretty much everything was kept in front. There were no big breakdowns in the run game. Everybody looked like they were in the right gap. And they were battling inside. … I thought the defense looked really good.”

Wyman said inside linebacker Tyrel Dodson and edge rusher Boye Mafe were two defensive players who stood out.

“Got a chance to see Tyrel Dodson run around,” Wyman said. “He’s really fast. He likes to hit. He’s scrappy. He’s nasty. So I like him. … Boye Mafe, he looked really good coming off the edge.”

[D-train]

[Sibelius Hindemith]

That's great to see. Hopefully that shoulder (or whatever he injured) will hold up to contact because his coverage skills are elite.

[D-train]

Damn, I am thankful I am not a North Sea Marauder fan right now.

https://www.nfl.com/news/vikings-qb-j-j ... r-meniscus

[Sibelius Hindemith]

Pharoah Brown got injured on a hard tackle today...

https://www.fieldgulls.com/2024/8/15/24 ... e-nfl-news

I guess they probably will need to keep 4 TEs.