Seahawks Fan Fest at Lumen Field
RENTON, Wash. - The Seattle Seahawks won't be playing many of their starters when the preseason opens Thursday night against the Las Vegas Raiders.
The starters that will see the field will mostly be the team's rookie class as they get acclimated to a game day at Lumen Field for the first time.
"Some position battles are still going. If there's younger guys, like Nick (Emmanwori) will get some good reps. You’ll see Grey (Zabel) initially, Elijah (Arroyo) will play. So all those young guys, they need that, they need experience and reps too," head coach Mike Macdonald said on Tuesday afternoon.
The Seahawks had a heavy week of work last week ahead of their "Football Fest" practice at the stadium on Saturday evening. It's led to a relatively light week this week ahead of Thursday's game.
"Today kind of wrapped up a big push for us with last week and the day off and then we had two great days of practice here where we really got after it and great competitive practices. All attention now is to Thursday and getting our body's right to go play a game," Macdonald said.
Here are some of the biggest items of not for the Seahawks ahead of the preseason opener:
Injury Updates.
– Center Olu Oluwatimi did not practice for the second straight day. Jalen Sundell handled all the first-team reps at center in Oluwatimi's absence.
"Olu’s back tightened up a little bit. It's really day to day at this point," Macdonald said.
– Linebacker Tyrice Knight did not practice after appearing to be hurt during Monday's practice. Macdonald said "same thing" in referring to Knight as day-to-day. However, he noted they will get a scan on Knight's knee.
"He just got in a little tangle with his knee, so we're getting it imaged and kind of go from there," Macdonald said.
– Defensive end Mike Morris came out for the early part of practice before eventually having an ice wrap on his left knee. He will also have a scan done on his knee.
"Just getting him tested out right now, it’s just like a lower body. It felt funny, so we just took care of him," Macdonald said.
– Linebacker Josh Ross has been held out the last several days with a cast on his left hand. Macdonald confirmed Ross had surgery, but it shouldn't keep him out long.
– Long snapper Chris Stoll injured his back during practice on Friday and has been held out ever since. The team signed seven-year veteran Zach Triner ahead of Thursday's game with the Raiders.
"No update on him. It's positive. He's getting better, but we just don't know long it’s going to take," Macdonald said.
– Wide receivers Steven Sims and Montorie Foster Jr. are each dealing with hamstring issues.
– Cornerback Shaquill Griffin was back in attendance on Tuesday after missing roughly two weeks attending to a personal matter. Griffin did not participate in practice and the team will ramp him back into work moving forward.
"We have a plan for Shaq," Macdonald said. "He's back. He's missed some time, so you can't just throw him in and let him rock with the wolves. But we have a plan, so we'll stick to that."
– Nose tackle Johnathan Hankins continues to be absent from practice with no further updates on his status or timeline from Macdonald.
– Macdonald himself missed practice on Monday for a personal matter. Leslie Frazier and Aden Durde stepped in to run practice in Macdonald's absence.
"It was just with my family, but everything's positive, everything went great, and I’m very blessed," Macdonald said. "Very blessed. But all positive. People have big problems out there, I don't."
Tory Horton pushing Marquez Valdes-Scantling for No. 3 receiver.
Rookie Tory Horton has routinely flashed during the last two weeks of training camp.
For veteran offseason addition Marquez Valdes-Scantling, it's been a different story.
Valdes-Scantling made a catch on a slant with a nice run-after-catch on Tuesday for one of the more notable plays he's made in training camp. Horton has been far more dynamic in factoring into the receiving picture and has started taking more and more reps with the first-team offense.
It's clear that there is a real battle between the two players for the No. 3 receiver role behind Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp.
"He knows he's in a battle, and I think he respects Tory, what he's doing, and he's had a great attitude. He's had a tremendous attitude," Macdonald said of Valdes-Scantling. "He's a competitor at heart. I mean, he's had a great career, but there's also a lot of great competition too. That's what you want from vets that you bring in. Come on and bring it, but if doesn't go your way initially, the way exactly you want it, that's okay. We're still halfway through. Let's rock and roll. Start stacking some more plays and it's a fun competition to watch."
But while ‘MVS’ has been quiet in camp, Macdonald painfully remembers what Valdes-Scantling can do on a field.
"The things that he does, I think are going to show up more when we're more alive, being able to separate the defense and get into that third level to open up some of those intermediate routes," he said. "And if they don't respect what he can do, we saw last year what he's done. I got a bad memory of ‘Quez, just the last play of the AFC Championship. Stuck a dagger in our heart, that's on my mind a lot."
Valdes-Scantling's 32-yard touchdown for the Kansas City Chiefs was the deciding blow in a 17-10 victory over Macdonald's Baltimore Ravens in the 2023 playoffs.
Tony Dungy makes an appearance.
As he did last year, Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy made a visit to Seahawks' practice. He has a long relationship with assistant head coach Leslie Frazier, and Macdonald credited him with his interest in coaching.
"We talked about this last year. Coach Dungy is probably the reason that I decided to pursue coaching in the first place. Definitely a driving force behind that," Macdonald said. "So much respect, and I think the guys, too, like the guys know Coach Dungy’s the man. Awesome to have him here. Appreciate the word that he gave the team, kind of leave it between us, but great having him here. I know he's really tight with Coach Frazier. Excited to see them share old stories."
The Source: Information in this story came from FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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