Bob Condotta The Seattle Times
RENTON — Quarterback Sam Darnold and most of the rest of the Seahawks starters were mystery men Thursday night, stationed on the sidelines as Seattle played mostly backups in its preseason opener against the Raiders.
Well, other than the two times that many of the defensive starters ran on the field after interceptions to celebrate.
Each time Seattle was called for personal fouls. Coach Mike Macdonald seemed OK with it as a one-time thing, saying he liked the enthusiasm, but that “we really can’t afford to be doing that moving forward.’’
The starters also may be busier when the Seahawks play preseason game number two against the Kansas City Chiefs at 7 p.m. Friday at Lumen Field.
As Macdonald noted, Chiefs coach Andy Reid likes to play his starters some in the preseason — Patrick Mahomes and the KC starting offense got three snaps in the preseason opener Saturday at Arizona.
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Mahomes played long enough to throw a 1-yard TD pass on what was his third snap of the game and then headed to the bench for the rest of the night.
Macdonald indicated that with the Chiefs likely to play some starters this week, the Seahawks will follow suit.
“Coach Reid, they have a history of playing their starters in the game, so our guys will have an opportunity to go next week,’’ Macdonald said prior to the Raiders’ game.
Assuming that plan doesn’t change, that would mean the first Lumen Field appearance as Seahawks against another team for Seattle’s two most significant offseason offensive veteran acquisitions — Darnold and receiver Cooper Kupp.
During a stretch of Sunday’s practice at the VMAC — Seattle’s 15th of training camp and second-to-last that is open to the public — Darnold and Kupp looked game ready.
Late in the workout, Macdonald called for a “mystery situation,’’ where the players are suddenly given a situation that’s not in the practice script.
In this one, the offense got the ball with a third-and-10 at its own 41, with the defense needing a stop to get the ball back.
Darnold first hit Jaxon Smith-Njigba on a slant for about 6 yards.
The offense went for it on fourth down and Darnold threw an out to Kupp, who got just enough separation on Devon Witherspoon for a 5-yard gain and a first down and a win in the situation.
Earlier in the day Darnold hit Kupp for a sizable gain over the middle. Then, during a red-zone drill that concluded the practice, Darnold converted once with a scramble for a touchdown of about 4 yards on third-and-goal, then came right back with a TD on a fade route to rookie Tory Horton.
The Seahawks may finally put those combos on full display for at least a little while Friday.
Tight ends keep making presence felt
AJ Barner’s spot on the Seahawks’ roster is so secure entering his second season that he was one of the “white hat’’ crew on the sidelines who sat out Thursday’s preseason opener.
That left the bulk of the tight end snaps to rookie Elijah Arroyo and veterans Eric Saubert and Brady Russell. All made plays, most notably Arroyo, the 50th overall pick, who had two catches for 14 yards in 36 snaps.
According to Pro Football Focus, he was asked to run block on 13 snaps, and confirmed what was Arroyo’s own declaration earlier in the week that run blocking remains an area of needed improvement. PFF gave him a 48.1 run-blocking grade, the third lowest of any Seahawk who had a run-block snap in the game.
Macdonald said he liked the play of the overall group against the Raiders.
“I thought they showed up,’’ he said. “I thought they were physical, I thought they finished plays. The exciting thing was you felt them on special teams, the physicality. I think we’ve got a great room. (Tight ends coach) Mack (Brown) is doing a tremendous job with those guys. They’re kind of the silent engine of what we’re doing on offense, too. We ask a lot of those guys, and I think they’re playing good football for us.”
The Seahawks may try to use the three veteran tight ends more as run blockers early on and give Arroyo as many pass-catching opportunities as possible.
There has been zero doubt of Arroyo’s readiness in that area, which Arroyo made clear again in practices the past two days.
Arroyo was the star of Saturday’s workout with a handful of highlight plays that included a one-handed catch on a pass from Drew Lock.
“Seeing him develop has been really cool,’’ Saubert, a 31-year-old veteran of eight NFL seasons, said Sunday. “I think he’s shown a lot of great things, and he hasn’t even tapped his potential yet. We’ve got a room full of guys that want to get better, love ball, and want to help this team. When you’ve got a room like that, everything is easy.”
Arroyo also showed another skill at the end of Sunday’s practice. Macdonald gathered the players together and held a contest to see which of the nonquarterbacks could hit the crossbar with a pass from 30 yards away. After a handful of off-target throws from other players, Arroyo stepped up and calmly nailed it with a left-handed spiral.
Oluwatimi sits out again
Center Olu Oluwatimi was again a spectator for all of practice while dealing with a back issue that has hampered him for much of the past week. He did some work early individual work Saturday before being held out the rest of the way. Sunday he was not in pads.
That had Jalen Sundell again handling all of the snaps at center with the first team with rookie Federico Maranges handling the reps with the second team and rookie Mason Richman getting some with the threes.
The OL lineups were otherwise the same as they have been other than rookie Bryce Cabeldue appeared to get most of the reps with the second unit at left guard with Sataoa Laumea working with the third team.
Running back Kenneth Walker III, who has been getting some days off in practice to rest a sore foot, did not practice Sunday. He did take part in Saturday’s practice.
Linebacker Ernest Jones IV was again absent, having attended the funeral this weekend for his father.
Third-year safety Jerrick Reed II produced the only turnover of the day when he picked off a Lock pass that was intended for Arroyo. The pass went far past Arroyo and pretty much straight into Reed’s hands.
Rookie QB Jalen Milroe continued what has been a strong connection with fellow rookie WR Tyrone Broden with two completions for sizable gains during team periods.
Snapper Chris Stoll (back) also remains sidelined with Zach Triner again handling snaps in practice.
Horton continues to get substantial snaps with the ones with veteran Marquez Valdes-Scantling most typically playing with the twos.
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