Camp Takeaways: Highlight Plays, Sloppy Center Execution Headline Third Padded Practice

RENTON, Wash. - Back in pads following a walkthrough-oriented session one day earlier, Mike Macdonald didn’t have to come up with his own plans for emulating crowd noise as the Seattle Seahawks returned to the practice field for their eighth training camp practice with the Blue Angels zooming and booming through the skies on Thursday.

“It’s something really special. I’m pretty sure we're the only ones around that have that, some added crowd noise on purpose,” Macdonald told reporters following practice. “Sam [Darnold] was like, ‘Is that you? Is that crowd noise on purpose?’ No, but it was good work. Great practice. Longest practice so far. Physical, good stuff, a lot of situational work we're going through, all three units doing good stuff. Excited to watch the tape and we're over halfway through this week, which is a critical week for us. We'll look forward to putting an exclamation point on it tomorrow and Saturday.”

With plenty of action taking place between the lines, what went down in the third padded practice of Seattle’s training camp? Here are five takeaways from the VMAC:

1. Passing game shows progress with handful of explosive pass plays from all three quarterbacks.

Trying to move the ball through the air against Seattle’s defense can be a futile exercise at times given the abundance of talent at all three levels for Macdonald’s unit. But as camp continues to unfold, Sam Darnold and the rest of the offense have started to find a bit more of a groove with their aerial attack, particularly when it comes to generating explosive plays.

In the first team period, following a productive screen play to Ken Walker III and a 15-yard run by the speedy back, the Seahawks were thrown into a 3rd and 2 situation just outside of the opposing 30-yard line. Facing six rushers coming after him on a blitz, Darnold took the snap from shotgun, scanned the field, and stepped up in the pocket before unloading a strike over the middle to Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who sprung open on a dig route and then turned upfield before being ruled down by whistle after an 18-yard reception.

Following a change-of-pace walkthrough install session, it was Drew Lock’s turn to get in on the fireworks show. Lofting a perfectly placed deep ball on a fade route along the sideline, Jake Bobo skied over Nehemiah Pritchett to high point the football and managed to drag both of his feet inbounds for a 24-yard reception. This came on the heels of a slant catch by Bobo two plays earlier where he slipped past a tackle and appeared to have nothing but green in front of him, but coaches blew it dead with defenders not being able to bring ball carriers to the ground.

Towards the tail end of practice, Jalen Milroe got in on the act, both with his arm and legs. Running the third team offense in a two-minute drill situation, he bolted from the pocket on a naked bootleg and outran Nick Emmanwori for the corner, turning upfield for a first down before going out of bounds. Two snaps later, he set his feet and fired a dart down the seam to tight end Brady Russell for a 35-yard gain, capping off a rock solid day for the rookie signal caller that left Macdonald quite impressed.

“There were a couple plays early [where] we were throwing a lot at him schematically on the defense. But it's good for him to kind of get trial by fire on some of those situational things, and we’ll learn from those early in practice. But to be able to come back in a critical two-minute situation and win the game for the offense by making two great plays and then operating, that is not an easy operation right there at the end. [He] played the clock, it’s great to see. It shows he can rebound, the poise was awesome to see. We ended practice the right way.”

2. Centers apparently hit the snooze button before early practice with major snapping issues.

Per Macdonald, now that the pads have come out, the Seahawks hope to see competitions at center and right guard “come into focus” as the preseason approaches and make a decision on each front at some point in mid-August. But at the pivot position, nobody looked like they wanted to win the job in Thursday’s practice, as poor snaps and penalties seemed to be contagious for the entire group with the early 10 AM start time.

In the midst of a potential position change, Christian Haynes had by far his worst practice since shifting to center, first uncorking an aborted snap under center and following it up by airmailing a shotgun snap 10 feet over Lock’s head, leading to him being pulled out of the lineup by the coaching staff. Later during a scrimmage period, he snapped too late when the rest of the line jumped early, leading to a false start penalty and once again getting ousted from the lineup for rookie Federico Maranges to replace him.

Unfortunately, Haynes wasn’t the only center who endured issues getting the ball back to the quarterback as the entire group struggled all morning. Incumbent starter Olu Oluwatimi worked with both the first and second-team offenses, launching high snaps on multiple occasions that forced Darnold and Lock to climb the ladder to catch the ball. Even Jalen Sundell had a few snaps that went high when he worked back in at center, though he didn’t have as many plays as usual with him seeing some work at right tackle on Thursday.

For most of camp, Seattle hasn’t had snap problems, so the hope has to be that this was a one-off and the trio of Oluwatimi, Sundell, and Haynes will be back on their game on Friday. If not, trying to name a starter by the set deadline in the middle of the preseason may be tricky, but not for good reasons.

3. Led by Nick Emmanwori, secondary continues to rack up turnovers in bunches.

In the second week of his first-ever NFL training camp, Emmanwori has been stacking quality practice after quality practice, showing up as a run defender, blitzer, and especially in coverage. Earlier in the week, he intercepted Milroe on an ill-fated throw on the doorstep of the goal post, returning it for a short touchdown. Since then, he has been seeing snaps with all three defensive units, as an emphasis has been placed on getting him as many snaps as possible.

Continuing to make the most of the chances he has earned, Emmanwori turned in the play of the afternoon once again, using his rare length and quickness to get to a football that no other player on the team may have even got their fingers on. Milroe dropped back and faced pressure quickly in the interior, leading to him throwing a low pass towards the sideline that looked like an intentional throwaway. But the 6-3 safety pivoted away from his receiver, left his feet, and managed to get his hands underneath the football while fully extended to secure a marvelous interception, getting up and taking off for 15 yards before finally being wrapped up.

“We keep giving him stuff and he keeps executing,” Macdonald said of Emmanwori. “You have to be careful that you don't take the playmaker out of the player. That's something that is on my mind. He just keeps learning and keeps executing and keeps making plays. He's got great enthusiasm and anytime you’ve got a coaching point for him, he's very receptive towards it.”

Fast forwarding to the final red zone period, after two runs had been stuffed on successive plays, Lock tried to make magic happen on a third and long, failing to notice cornerback Damarion Williams in the end zone. Trying to get the ball to a receiver in the back lefthand corner, Williams jumped the throw and took off for the races behind a caravan of teammates, and while the play was blown dead with a bunch of players standing in the way across the 25-yard line, it likely would have been a pick six in a game situation for the former Houston standout, who bounced back nicely from a rough Tuesday practice.

4. Jared Ivey makes presence felt - for better or worse - as rookie aims to impress in trenches.

Undrafted rookies face a tremendous amount of pressure in the NFL, as they only get so many opportunities and have to make the most of them to put themselves on the radar for a possible roster spot. In the case of Ivey, the ex-Ole Miss star and former All-SEC performer has had an uneven training camp so far, making some splash plays along the way while also drawing ire from coaches on a few occasions.

Earlier in camp during a non-padded practice, Ivey got an early trip to the showers for making too much contact with Lock in the pocket in a team session. He got into a mix up with guard Anthony Bradford during 1-on-1s on Tuesday, but cooler heads prevailed. As Macdonald pointed out, he also got lit into towards the end of Wednesday’s practice when he tackled running back Jacardia Wright in the backfield, failing to stay upright as demanded by coaches.

“I’m laughing because we got into a little thing at the end on the ground,” Macdonald smiled. “But look, you are a rookie, dude. Just put your head down and keep playing. He has made great plays. He is practicing the way we want in terms of the spirit and letting it rip. Things are going to happen. We are going to get on you because we expect it and we have a vision for you about how you want to be. Then go recalibrate and keep rolling. Off to a good start, but he is still a rookie.”

But while Ivey has to tighten things up in terms of practice etiquette and doing things the right way battling against teammates, it’s more than fair to say that he has been an increasingly disruptive player as camp has progressed, starting to push his way into the conversation with more reps with the second-team defense as a result. In Thursday’s session, he wisely got his arms extended into a passing lane after strong bull rushes into the pocket to produce two pass breakups and later added multiple run stops at the line of scrimmage or in the backfield, including the aforementioned play where he wrongly brought Wright to the ground.

With fellow rookie Rylie Mills on the Non-Football Injury list and no updates on his potential timeline coming back from a torn ACL, Ivey has a pathway to play his way onto Seattle’s roster as a versatile depth piece capable of playing defensive end as well as off the edge in a two-point stance. If he can reign in some of the end of play theatrics and follow the rules a bit better, given his recent improvements producing plays between the lines, he will be set up nicely to earn a spot in the rotation with a strong preseason performance.

5. Injury to Charles Cross creates further opportunities in swing tackle competition.

Mere moments before the Seahawks took the practice field on Thursday, NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport announced via X that Cross underwent surgery to repair a dislocated finger and that he would be ready for the start of the regular season. Macdonald confirmed the report speaking with media following practice, indicating that the team hopes to have their starting left tackle back in action at some point between the final preseason game at Green Bay and Week 1.

"He wanted to keep playing, but once he understood the timetable, playing the long game seemed like it made sense,” Macdonald said.

With Cross likely out for at least the next three weeks, Seattle will turn to veteran Josh Jones and second-year blocker Mike Jerrell as the primary blind side protectors as they duel for the swing tackle role previously held by George Fant. Jones offers prior starting experience at both tackle positions as well as seeing spot duty slid inside as a guard during stints with the Cardinals and Texans, while Jerrell was thrown into the fire as a rookie coming out of Division II Findlay University and started three games for the Seahawks at right tackle a year ago.

After signing a one-year contract in free agency, Jones will be the favorite to replace Fant’s role on the depth chart. But Jerrell shouldn’t be discounted, as the young blocker looks far more polished after a full NFL offseason and his athletic traits play quite well on the left side, which he has acclimated quite well to during the early stages of training camp. In Thursday’s session, he held his own in 1-on-1 drills and picked up a blitzing Emmanwori to protect Lock in the pocket during a team scrimmage period, showcasing improved understanding and instincts compared to his rookie year.

To this point, Macdonald and his staff hadn’t seen much extensive action for Jerrell with Jones being the primary backup behind Cross and Abraham Lucas, but he was looking forward to seeing how he held up with an extended workload with the second-team offense at left tackle on Thursday as he continues to adjust to playing on that side.

“We're fortunate last year with these rookies that we put in the fire, that had to play for us, and we won games with them. Take it to the next level,” Macdonald remarked. “We brought in Josh [Jones], to be a swing tackle to compete with him. Same opportunity that Josh has right now with Charles being out for a period of time. Charles is a tremendous player, but we do have a standard about how we don't want to play and when he's in there, let's rock and roll. This is the first time we've seen him, so I'm eager to watch the tape and see how he did.”