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# Camp Takeaways: Jaxon Smith-Njigba Continues to Amaze Fellow Seahawks in High Leverage Situations
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/camp-takeaways-jaxon-smith-njigba-amaze-fellow-teammates-high-leverage/
- Published: 2026-08-06T00:43:31.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-06T00:43:31.000Z
- Author: Corbin Smith
- Tags: Analysis, Seahawks, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Rashid Shaheed, Jadarian Price, Brian Fleury, Mike Macdonald, Leonard Williams, Dante Fowler Jr., Jarran Reed

RENTON, Wash. - Stop if you’ve heard this before: Jaxon Smith-Njigba is pretty damn good.

Stars don’t flash every single day in training camp, especially an established one coming off of winning Offensive Player of the Year honors like Smith-Njigba is for the Seattle Seahawks, with more reps dedicated to younger players and coaches prioritizing installing the offense over game planning to feature the best player as they would in the regular season. But there will always be practices this serve as a reminder of that star’s greatness and for the “Emerald City Route Artist,” Wednesday’s 10th camp practice proved to be just that.

Targeted far more than he has been in most of the practices in camp to this point, Smith-Njigba got rolling early in Wednesday’s hot, smoky session, starting with a 25-yard reception along the sideline with tight coverage from cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett that quarterback Sam Darnold dropped right into his hands. Moments later, he beat Pritchett again, this time on a fade down the left sideline with safety Ty Okada coming over a hair too late in supporting coverage, allowing the receiver to scamper 38 yards for a touchdown.

“It was great to see him come alive, some of those \[in\] high-leverage situations too, when there's defensive attention at where he's at at all times. ” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald remarked after practice. “So for him to be able to make those plays is great for the Seahawks, great for him. And I think we're feeling like he can get open from wherever, doing whatever, doing all the things from all the places. But how do we optimize it? How do we move him around? Where is he in the progression? He's going to be number 1 in the progression on a lot of plays.”

While Smith-Njigba’s first two receptions of the day produced big yardage and a score, his true highlight moment came towards the tail end of the practice as the Seahawks tried to drive the ball downfield quickly in a four-minute offense drill. Springing open from the slot on an out-breaking route, Darnold led his receiver to the sideline, forcing Smith-Njigba to dive for the football while trying to stick both feet inbounds. He managed to catch it and pleaded his case for being inbounds, but officials ruled him out.

Taking matters into his own hands, Macdonald looked at the monitor on the sideline and quickly put on his replay assistant cap as if he was making the verdict from New York, overturning the play and turning it into a 20-yard gain and a first down. Replay off of the monitor seemed to have indisputable evidence both toes hit down inbounds, making it the right call even if the coach indicated the overturn had more to do with simply moving the ball downfield in the drill.

“I reviewed it. I feel like \[former NFL coach\] Steve Spurrier,” Macdonald smiled. “Like, I just watched it. I don't need to watch it again. Looked like a catch and we were trying to get a lot of plays in. We're doing like a long drive drill, so I felt like if we get the sticks moving, that would be a good coach's challenge in real time.”

Capping off an outstanding day, Smith-Njigba beat Josh Jobe on a curl route in the red zone, finding the end zone for his second receiving touchdown of the afternoon courtesy of Darnold. Such production shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, but it served as a simple friendly reminder why he belongs on a short list of the best of the best when it comes to receivers in the league today.

What else stood out in Seattle’s 10th training camp practice? Here are four additional takeaways from the VMAC:

### 1\. Not to be outdone by JSN, Rashid Shaheed continues to stack excellent practices in Brian Fleury’s offense.

One of the true stars of camp to this point, Shaheed has been a big play machine, both as an after the catch weapon and a downfield threat via the deep ball. On Wednesday, he provided the sellout crowd on the berm with plenty more fireworks on Wednesday, continuing to demonstrate his enhanced chemistry with Darnold one deep ball at a time.

Just three plays into the first 11-on-11 scrimmage period, Shaheed toasted his opposing cornerback and put some butter on top for good measure, rocketing downfield for a 45-yard reception that likely would have been a touchdown in a true game situation. This marked the second time this week that he has hauled in a pass netting 45 or more yards, as Darnold has gradually started to take more shots to him downfield as camp has progressed and more of Fleury’s offense gets installed on the field.

Shaheed wasn’t done with explosives, either. On the next series for the first-team offense, he got a step on Pritchett, who played much of the day as the second corner across from Jobe with Devon Witherspoon getting an on-field veteran rest day, beating the defender inside on a deep post for a 25-yard gain. He later added a 20-yard reception on an out route, using a slick cut to create separation against Jobe with Darnold laying the pass right on his fingertips as he approached the sideline.

Last season, the Seahawks never truly got to see what their offense could look like with Smith-Njigba and Shaheed humming at the same time, as the latter struggled at times getting up to speed with his new quarterback after an October trade from the Saints. But as camp continues to indicate, both players appear to be in midseason form along with Cooper Kupp and Tory Horton enjoying stellar camps, creating no shortage of excitement about what the next step could look like for the team’s aerial attack.

### 2\. The run game remains a work in progress, with Macdonald offering a more optimistic viewpoint to Fleury.

Giving a somewhat blunt assessment of the state of Seattle’s rushing game on Tuesday, Fleury acknowledged that the offense wasn’t where he wanted it to be just yet in that regard. With that said, he felt they were heading in the right direction, speaking to his evaluation being more about technique and alignment than the actual play results on the practice field. Simply put, they aren’t where he wants them to be in terms of reliability in those two departments.

But when asked about that response, Macdonald took a little different viewpoint, saying that he respects Fleury for not being satisfied while seeing tangible progress and being pleased with where the Seahawks are at this point of the season. After all, they still haven’t had a real game situation with tackling, which makes the evaluation process a tad bit tricky even when pads are on at practice.

“I think we're on a great track. I really do,” Macdonald explained. “I think we're doing a lot of— we're very decisive. We're able to get to a lot of things inexpensively, which is really cool. And definitely testing us on defense, which is great. There's been a lot of give and take. Both sides have made plays, but definitely sharpening each other for sure. So I'm happy that he's not satisfied, but for right now, I'm very encouraged with where our run game is.”

Through a week and a half of camp, the trio of Jadarian Price, George Holani, and Emanuel Wilson have each turned in their fair share of quality runs, including the rookie Price ripping off a 20-yard run on a wide zone concept in Wednesday’s session, while also being utilized more in the passing game in Fleury’s offense than they were a year ago. There certainly have been some positive developments from a position group that entered the season with questions after Ken Walker III’s departure and Zach Charbonnet’s torn ACL suffered in January, but until the real games begin later this month, it will be a tough task to truly assess where the run game is at.

### 3\. Led by the “Big Cat” Leonard Williams, Wednesday wound up being a great day for the old veterans in the trenches.

Now with an All-Pro on his resume and recently named the top defensive tackle in the NFL in an ESPN poll, Williams no longer sits off the radar as one of the league’s most underrated stars. For those who have known how talented he is far longer than the national media that just now have caught up, however, there are still moments on the practice field where the former USC star can still shock his teammates with his insane playmaking ability at 300 pounds, and a sequence late in Wednesday’s practice did just that.

Getting a firsthand look at the heroics being on the field at the same time, with temperatures hovering into the mid-80s and the smoke coming from Spokane making the field feel hotter than that, Derick Hall witnessed Williams blow up multiple plays in the red zone during Seattle’s live drive drill at the end of practice.

“He just looks as fresh as ever. He shut down the last three plays of that period,” Hall said. “I know it’s what you do every day, but again, that just goes back to who he is. His fire, his desire to go out and play this game at the highest level, no matter the circumstances, and continue to show even young guys coming in, rookies, like, ‘If I can do it in Year 12, you should be able to do it no problem.’ Again, that just speaks to who Leo is and who he is as a player.”

First, he split a block from Charles Cross and Anthony Bradford playing defensive end, shooting into the backfield to corral the running back for a three-yard loss. On the ensuing snap, he generated a quick pressure to force quarterback Sam Darnold to eat the ball in the pocket, leading to a quick whistle on a sack for 33-year-old Jarran Reed. He wrapped up the drive by again disrupting Darnold, this time forcing him to scramble out to his left before lofting an incompletion, forcing the offense to settle for a field goal instead of a touchdown.

Away from Williams and Reed having their moments in the hot sun, 31-year-old Dante Fowler Jr. also has continued to ramp up his activity as a pass rusher over the past few practices. Moments before Big Cat went off to salvage a red zone trip for Seattle’s defense, he showed off his wheels chasing Darnold from behind as the quarterback scrambled out of the pocket to his left, earning a “whistle” sack as he tapped the signal caller from behind approaching the sideline.

### 4\. With the roster a bit banged up, Seattle goes back to shell mode with body preservation opted over physicality.

In his first two training camps as head coach, Macdonald has emphasized physicality and toughness, often holding multiple padded practices in a row once they have four practices in the book. But this year, the Seahawks have shifted their approach, as they were back in shells without pads on Wednesday for the second time in three days, making it that they have only had three padded practices total in their first 10\. That number will stay the same on Thursday with a walkthrough-paced, hour-long session scheduled.

Per Macdonald, the decision not to wear pads on Wednesday wasn’t pre-planned, as they normally would have done so after going into shell mode on Monday. However, Seattle has a ton of players currently banged up, as cornerback Julian Neal, receiver Jake Bobo, fullback Robbie Ouzts, running back Jacardia Wright, defensive end Mike Morris, linebacker Jamie Sheriff, and several others were held out of action, leading to the coach feeling it was a wise decision to audible to an OTA-style non-contact practice instead.

On the plus side, Macdonald loved the effort and competitiveness from his players on Wednesday, feeling they had one of their best days of camp so far and got a ton done despite not being able to incorporate more physicality with pads in play.

“Today probably would’ve been a padded practice in years past but we have some guys nicked up,” Macdonald said. “You have to be able to make that adjustment and go. We had a great practice today and it was comparative considering we were in shells. I’m pleased.”

Looking towards the rest of the week, after Thursday’s ATC walkthrough session, Macdonald will likely try to ramp up the number of padded days with the regular season now nearly just a month away. Aiming to “callous up” his players for when the real games begin, that will start in earnest on Saturday night with the Seahawks hosting their annual Football Fan Fest at Lumen Field, which will feature some scrimmage periods for fans to enjoy at the stadium.