RENTON — His locker is located in a different spot than the last time he was with the Seahawks. The coach and defensive scheme are new, too.
But as Quandre Diggs walked through the Seahawks locker room Wednesday afternoon, receiving an endless stream of well wishes from players and staffers alike, it was obvious he felt at home.
“Obviously if I had the opportunity to come back it was a no-brainer for me,” said Diggs, who was officially signed to the Seahawks’ practice squad on Wednesday. “Just being around my guys and people that literally, bro, I talk to all the time, people I’m always around. … being back home. It’s been dope.”
Diggs returned Wednesday as part of a flurry of roster moves the team made to account for some injury issues that have grown over the last few weeks.
The Seahawks first had conversations with Diggs earlier this month following his release by the Titans on Nov. 7, a move that came at Diggs’ request.
His release came six days after the Seahawks placed safety Julian Love on injured reserve with a hamstring injury that has nagged him much of the season.
The talks with Diggs grew more urgent following Sunday’s game when Love’s replacement, Ty Okada, suffered an oblique injury that held him out for the second half.
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The team did not put Okada on IR, which would have required he sit out four games, indicating the injury isn’t overly serious. But he did not practice Wednesday and may have to miss a game or two.
The Seahawks are also uncertain when Love, who has played just three games and not since Sept, 25, will return. Love is eligible to come off IR.
He was not designated as returning to practice this week and coach Mike Macdonald said he won’t practice or play this week.
“I expect him to be back this year, and we’re hoping for next week, that’s what we’re shooting for,” Macdonald said. “But I’ve been wrong before.”
Love’s continued absence and Okada’s injury leaves the Seahawks with just three healthy safeties on the 53-man roster — Coby Bryant, D’Anthony Bell, who filled in Sunday for Okada, and rookie Nick Emmanwori, who is being used almost every play in five- and six-defensive back sets.
Bell figures to again start at safety alongside Bryant against the Vikings on Sunday in a 1:05 p.m. kickoff at Lumen Field.
Bell had four tackles against the Titans and drew a strong endorsement Wednesday from defensive coordinator Aden Durde.
“I thought he tackled well, I thought he communicated on an elite level,” Durde said. “He was ready for the opportunity and he’s done a great job. … I think as the week shakes out we’ll go through that, but I think (Bell) has done a great job.”
One more injury could mean Diggs has to play as soon as Sunday.
“If that’s what it calls for, you know me, I’ll be ready to go,” Diggs said.
Diggs said he got other offers after his release by the Titans, where he played in nine games this year with four starts. He made it clear he was waiting to see if something would materialize with the Seahawks.
“It was just more, you know, I knew where I wanted to be,” he said. “If it worked out, cool. If it didn’t, I was cool at the crib.”
Diggs played four full seasons in Seattle and part of a fifth after arriving midway through the 2019 season from Detroit.
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“I grew up here, you know what I mean?” Diggs said. “Actually learned how to be a man (here).”
When Macdonald took over following the 2023 season, the Seahawks were faced with some tough decisions.
Among those was the future of Diggs, who was entering the final season of a three-year $39 million deal he’d signed in the spring of 2022.
Diggs was due for a $10.4 million salary in 2024 and a cap hit of $21.2 million.
Diggs and Macdonald talked on the phone and Diggs implied Wednesday that he and the Seahawks talked about a deal that might have allowed him to stay.
“Me and Mike had conversations last year,” he said, adding he also talked with new safeties coach Jeff Howard and defensive backs coach Karl Scott, the lone holder from Pete Carroll’s staff. “It just didn’t work out, you know what I mean?”
Diggs eventually was released on the same day as his good friend Jamal Adams, as the Seahawks decided to remake the safety position, going with a tandem of Love and Bryant to replace them.
“Bringing back Diggs, it’s pretty cool because him and I talked when we first got here last year and had a great conversation,” Macdonald said. “And obviously things worked out the way they did. Excited for him to be back. I know the building’s really excited. I think he’s excited. I know a lot of our guys are really fired up.”
After his release from the Seahawks, he signed with Tennessee on a one-year deal for the 2024 season worth up to $3 million, and another for 2025 worth up to $1.45 million.
He said his departure from the Seahawks left no hard feelings.
When he was released by the Titans, who are in rebuild mode after falling to 1-10 with Sunday’s loss to the Seahawks, he hoped it would work out to return.
“I was at home (in Austin, Texas),” he said. “Been some chit-chat (with the Seahawks) for the last couple weeks. I was just there, ready if the opportunity came along. And it came along and here I am.”
Macdonald’s system is similar to the one Diggs was running in Tennessee, where the defensive coordinator is Dennard Wilson, who was the defensive backs coach with the Baltimore Ravens in 2023 when Macdonald was the defensive coordinator.
Macdonald said Diggs was “spitting out calls” during Wednesday’s walk-through.
“He’s been doing it a while at a high level,” Macdonald said. “We’re not doing anything he’s never heard of.”
Said Diggs: “It’s very similar (Seattle’s defense and Tennessee’s). It’s just communicating, doing the things that I do well and just being ready to go if they need me.’’
For Diggs, now 32, his return allows him to add to an already rich Seahawks legacy that already includes three Pro Bowls and two times named as a defensive team captain.
Diggs said it was “always wanted to be part of the plan” to play for the Seahawks again. “Everybody knows how I feel about this place.”
Bob Condotta: bcondotta@seattletimes.com. Bob Condotta is a sports reporter at The Seattle Times who primarily covers the Seahawks but also dabbles in other sports. He has worked at The Times since 2002, reporting on University of Washington Husky football and basketball for his first 10 years at the paper before switching to the Seahawks in 2013.