RENTON, Wash. — The Seahawks held their second minicamp practice on Wednesday afternoon. They’ll have one more on Thursday morning before the veterans depart for the summer (the young guys will stick around for another week). Here are some takeaways from Wednesday’s session:
1. The list of non-participants from Tuesday’s practice remained largely the same Wednesday, with the addition of cornerback Tre Brown and outside linebacker Darrell Taylor. I also didn’t see right tackle Abraham Lucas (shoulder) doing much. Receiver Tyler Lockett doesn’t appear to be doing anything more than positional work. Brown spent time with the training staff, doing strength and conditioning workouts off to the side, whereas Taylor stood next to the players in his position group and watched practice.
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Coach Pete Carroll is scheduled to speak on Thursday, so any injury updates will be given then.
2. Rookie cornerback Devon Witherspoon was a full participant for the first time this offseason. On Tuesday, Seattle experimented with him at nickel for a portion of practice then kept that going on Wednesday, including seven-on-seven to end practice. With Witherspoon as the nickel, Artie Burns and Mike Jackson were the first-team cornerbacks (Witherspoon is still the team’s starting left cornerback on early downs).
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Witherspoon played both man and zone from multiple alignments in college, and he’s a very good athlete, so it’s not a total surprise Seattle is already seeing how he can hold up as a nickel corner. The obvious benefit of having Witherspoon inside is it potentially allows Seattle to put its three best corners — Jackson, Witherspoon and Tariq Woolen — on the field at once. That would unlock more coverage options for defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt in obvious passing situations.
Two step JSN. pic.twitter.com/qailIsx8kX
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) June 8, 2023
Having reliable man-to-man corners would also free up Hurtt to send more pressure at the quarterback. Seattle had the lowest blitz rate in the league last season at 14.9 percent, according to TruMedia. Hurtt can probably get that number much closer to the league average (25.8 percent) if he has more faith in his coverage unit.
Witherspoon wasn’t targeted very often in seven-on-seven, but one that came his way went for a touchdown. He was lined up against fellow first-round rookie Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who ran a wheel route from the slot and had a half-step on his teammate down the sideline. Quarterback Geno Smith uncorked a long ball from about 50 yards away, and it landed right in his receiver’s hands for a touchdown. Witherspoon could have potentially made a play on the ball in a live-game situation, but Smith-Njigba had a slight step on him regardless.
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Aside from that play, Witherspoon looked very comfortable playing on the inside.
3. That deep touchdown was Smith-Njigba’s second of the day from Smith. The first came earlier in the drill during a red zone session. Smith was able to lay the ball over the head of the linebacker guarding tight end Tyler Mabry and into Smith-Njigba’s hands in the back of the end zone.
Smith-Njigba has been going through walk-throughs since the start of OTAs but only recently has he been able to participate in seven-on-seven. It’s becoming clear the more he plays with Smith and the first-team offense how much of a weapon he can be in this scheme while playing beside DK Metcalf, Lockett and tight end Noah Fant.
“He’s come in and treated it like he’s a vet already,” Metcalf said of Smith-Njigba on Wednesday. “He knows how to run routes. He knows his body, he knows how to catch. So, it’s really just teaching him the playbook. He’s already ahead of the curve of learning the technique that (receivers coach) Sanjay (Lal) is teaching. He’s just fitting in with the drills and the plays we’re calling.”
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4. Backup quarterback Drew Lock had the best throw of the day Tuesday and followed that up with a few more dimes Wednesday in seven-on-seven. He found rookie receiver Jake Bobo in the back corner of the end zone from about 30 yards away on a scramble drill, then had another throw that could have been a score if rookie receiver Matt Landers had gotten his feet down.
Lock threw two more touchdowns to end practice. The first one was a goal line fade to receiver Easop Winston Jr., who was guarded by cornerback Montrae Braswell on the play. On the next snap, Lock hit tight end Will Dissly on a crosser. Lock’s not in competition for the starting job like he was last summer, but he’s still showing off his arm talent in practice.
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5. Smith has a strong connection with Metcalf, and the defense knows it, so each practice has been fun in terms of watching how that back and forth plays out. On the first play of seven-on-seven on Wednesday, Metcalf broke free on an out-breaking route. Smith saw how the defense was positioned and did a good job anticipating the throw so safety Julian Love couldn’t impact the ball as Metcalf hauled it in near the sideline.
Smith came right back to Metcalf later in the drill when the receiver sniffed out the soft spot in the defense’s zone coverage.
In the red zone, Smith dropped one in the bucket to Metcalf on a double move in the end zone, but Metcalf couldn’t hang on to it as he fell to the ground (Braswell had good coverage on the play). Later in the session, Metcalf hit Braswell with another double move down the sideline and caught a long touchdown from Smith. Then Metcalf got by Jackson in the back of the end zone during a red zone drill and made a nice diving grab for a score.
6. The offense, led by Smith, was in a nice rhythm to that point. But that came to a halt on the very next snap when Smith tried to go to Metcalf again, in the front of the end zone. This time, Jackson anticipated the throw, jumped it, intercepted the pass and sprinted the other direction. Jackson is having a very strong camp. The deck is stacked against the defense in this setting and yet Jackson finds a way to make an impact every other practice.
Taken away by @Teamjackson28! pic.twitter.com/NdhCewtALK
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) June 8, 2023
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7. With Adams not practicing, Love has been the team’s other first-team safety next to Quandre Diggs. Love can do a little bit of everything: play near the line of scrimmage, man the deep half, line up against receivers and tight ends in coverage and stop the run (he had some very solid reps in man coverage during seven-on-seven Wednesday).
For now, he’s filling in for Adams, but Hurtt could move Love around when all three safeties are healthy. When asked about Seattle’s three-safety looks, Love said that situation “will work itself out.”
“When you have a team, you try to put the best players on the field for each situation,” Love said Wednesday. “That’s my mindset. I have starts at every DB position, so I am a versatile player, and I’m just trying to take advantage. I have a good group around me so I don’t have to do anything outside of myself. I can just lean on the guy next to me and do my job.”
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When asked specifically about how his role will look when all three safeties are healthy, Love said he’s just looking forward to having Adams back.
“You just want to have weapons,” Love said. “In this division alone, you’re going to need as many weapons and as much ammo as you (can) have. He’s a huge weapon for this team. Whatever role, I’m gonna do my best, play my brand of football. That’s why coach Carroll got me out here, to play my brand of football whether Jamal is on the field or not on the field.”
Love also echoed what Diggs said Tuesday about the value of having Adams in the building even though he’s not practicing.
The joy of being back together. 🥹 pic.twitter.com/kQfnYSzcZW
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) June 7, 2023
“He’s a presence. He’s a leader of this team,” Love said. “Everyone loves and respects him. When he talks, everyone is quiet and listens to what he has to say. Him being here this week has meant a lot to guys. For me, I knew of him, coming from New York together, but the young guys, you see in their eyes, they’re all ears, they’re perked up to hear what he has to say.”
8. Last season, Seattle had new captains on offense (Lockett) and defense (Diggs and Al Woods) for the first time in years. Diggs and Woods were replacing Wagner, while Lockett was essentially replacing Russell Wilson, even though Smith was the new starting quarterback. On Wednesday, Metcalf said he felt he was too vocal last year. He doesn’t plan on that being the case this year and instead anticipates leading by example, which comes more naturally to him.
“When you lose guys like Bobby and Russ, you try to force yourself into roles you think you can fulfill — that just wasn’t my role,” Metcalf said. “That’s Geno’s role to be a vocal leader. He’s the quarterback. He’s the one calling the plays. Last year it was Quandre and Al. (I’ll be) fitting in my role of playing off the young guys and showing them what it takes to be a professional, things I’ve learned from guys like Bobby and Russ. Instead of vocally saying it, doing it myself. If they want to do it along with me, they can. If not, they can find their way.”
In that regard, Metcalf says he’s mimicking the way he was treated by Wagner back in 2019.
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“He didn’t tell me anything,” Metcalf said of Wagner’s leadership style his rookie year. “He told me he was going to work out and I was either going to show up or not. That’s basically what I’m doing to the young guys: showing them what helped me my rookie year.”
(Photo: Lindsey Wasson / Associated Press)
