A week away from the Seattle Seahawks’ first preseason game, head coach Mike Macdonald held the longest practice of training camp at two and a half hours on July 31.
With the Blue Angels ripping overhead, it created a special environment for first year Seahawks like Sam Darnold, who joked with Macdonald about the noise.
“Sam was like, ‘Was that you? Did you do that on purpose?’ I didn’t, but it was a great practice,” Macdonald said.
The Seahawks host the Las Vegas Raiders in week one of the preseason and welcome a familiar face — former coach Pete Carroll — back to Seattle.
With the number of new faces on both sides of the ball, Macdonald is starting to see what he wants from both offense and defense as both teams trade wins at the Virginia Mason Athletic Complex in Renton.
“We are finishing up the install phase on both sides of the ball. The execution is better than expected, given as much scheme that is in it. We expect as we circle back over the next week or so to be honing in on details,” Macdonald said.
The offensive line is going to be asked to do a lot under new Offensive Coordinator Klint Kubiak. Left tackle Charles Cross had a dislocated finger that didn’t require surgery, but Cross had it done. Cross is supposed to be good to go by week one for the Seahawks’ first game against San Francisco. 2025 first-round pick Grey Zabel is continuing to impress not only with his size and strength, but his versatility as well so far in camp.
Newcomer Josh Jones is also taking some reps with the first team at left tackle.
“He gives us some much-needed flexibility. We aren’t bringing him here to be a swing tackle. Go compete and win yourself a job. Push Abe (Lucas) but now there is an opportunity at left tackle where you can put your stamp on things,” Macdonald said.
Kubiak is instituting a zone run scheme and really putting an emphasis on running the ball. Third year running back Zach Charbonnet is excited to see how it transfers to the field.
“We have definitely been implementing it a lot more and attacking it from different ways. I am definitely loving the scheme and what we got going on,” Charbonnet said.
Jalen Milroe stretches during the team warm up at training camp. Photo provided by Maria Dorsten.
Players to watch
In terms of straight up head-turners on the roster, not many do it as well as second round pick Nick Emmanwori out of the University of South Carolina.
Emmanwori made an incredible interception on a pass down the sidelines from Jalen Milroe during the scrimmage period of practice. He went full extension with a dive to catch in his only interception of the day on an underthrown ball from his rookie teammate.
He has been making an impact all camp and can really be a weapon in this Macdonald defense in just his first season.
“He just keeps learning and keeps executing and making plays. He’s got great enthusiasm and anytime you have a coaching point for him he is very receptive toward it. We’ve said this ad nauseam, he’s just a really fun player to coach,” Macdonald said
On the offensive side of the ball, it is very impressive to see QB Sam Darnold spread the ball around to his weapons.
Seahawks fans have gotten used to Russell Wilson spinning the ball around the VMAC, and even Geno Smith threw an incredible ball. Darnold is no different — tight windows are no problem for Darnold, who will need to have perfect placement.
The wide receiver corps is missing someone with breakaway down the field speed, putting more emphasis on route running and creating separation off the line of scrimmage. That is were Cooper Kupp and Jaxon Smith-Njigba excel as ball catchers.
Darnold had a couple mishaps, but none that resulted in interceptions. But in the goal-to-go situations, he had a throw behind Marquez Valdez-Scantling on third down.
The defensive line had a great day, and veteran DeMarcus Lawrence continues to have a great camp. But rookie Jared Ivey out of Ole Miss made a couple of impact plays throughout the morning.
During a full scrimmage, Ivey would have had a sack and batted a pass thrown by Milroe.
Over on the backfield during the one-on-one competition, Ivey also showed out. In a defensive line room with Jarren Reed and Leonard Williams, Ivey can be the third guy battling Johnathan Hankins for playing time on the defensive line.
Ivey has a fiery personality and will sometimes overstep, including after practice on Thursday with Macdonald, where he was laying on the ground and heard about it from the staff. But it is all part of the learning curve for him.
“You’re a rookie dude, keep your head down and keep playing. He’s making great plays practicing the way we want in terms of the spirit and letting it rip. Things are gonna happen and we are gonna get on you because we have a vision for what we want you to be. Then go recalibrate and keep rolling. He’s off to a good start but he’s a rook,” Macdonald said.
