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# Camp Takeaways: Seahawks’ Offense Takes Big Step Forward in 11th Practice
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/camp-takeaways-seattle-seahawks-offense-takes-big-step-forward-11th-practice/
- Published: 2025-08-04T23:11:07.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T05:36:55.000Z
- Author: Corbin Smith
- Tags: Analysis, Seahawks, Charles Cross, Elijah Arroyo, AJ Barner, Damien Martinez, Byron Murphy II, Nick Emmanwori, Anthony Bradford, Grey Zabel, Tory Horton, Training Camp

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/img_5452-format-original.png)

RENTON, Wash. - Back in action after a much-deserved day off, the Seattle Seahawks were missing a key cog in Monday’s 11th training camp practice with head coach Mike Macdonald not in attendance for an excused absence.

While the team did not provide specifics on Macdonald’s situation, he’s expected to be back by Tuesday and with him not at the facility, assistant head coach Leslie Frazier conducted practice in his place, breaking the team down after the final bells rang.

What went down at the VMAC during a Macdonald-less session? Here are five takeaways from Monday’s practice:

### 1\. Tight ends play starring role in best day for Seattle’s passing game in camp thus far.

Much has been made about Seattle’s new-look passing game in respect to the loss of DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett coupled with the arrival of Cooper Kupp, Marques Valdez-Scantling, and surging rookie Tory Horton. But while those newcomers will have to pick up some of slack given the talent exodus, in an offense that will feature more 12 and 22 personnel groupings, a young core of tight ends looks poised to take a major load off the receiving corps shoulders.

Right out of the gate in Monday’s practice, Sam Darnold completed his first pass in the team period to second-year tight end A.J. Barner, who came open on a in-breaking dig route and turned upfield for a 20-yard gain. The former fourth round pick showed up as a frequent target for Seattle’s new starting quarterback throughout the morning, including a smooth reception on an out route during a third down situational drill to move the chains, while also making a key block to spring George Holani for a touchdown run late in the practice.

After scoring four touchdowns as a rookie, Barner’s contributions as a pass catcher aren’t as surprising as they were when he came out of Michigan with minimal receiving production. But athletic rookie Elijah Arroyo entered the NFL with vastly different expectations on that front as a top-50 pick and so far, he’s lived up to the hype as a soft-handed, field-stretching option in Kubiak’s scheme. He recorded multiple 20-plus yard receptions on Monday, beating cornerback Josh Jobe on a corner route for a 20-yard reception from Drew Lock and later adding a long touchdown catch from Jalen Milroe on a well-executed skinny corner route that left his defender in the dust.

If practices up to this point have been any indication, especially after the pre-camp release of Noah Fant, the Seahawks will be playing Barner and Arroyo together for extensive snaps in 2025\. And they will be doing a lot more than blocking, potentially being a major part of a revamped passing game.

### 2\. Stellar efficiency in the red zone from all three of the Seahawks’ offensive units stands out as a bright spot.

Last year, the Seahawks ranked in the middle of the league in red zone efficiency, scoring touchdowns on 57 percent of their trips inside the opposing 20\. But former starting quarterback Geno Smith threw more interceptions in those situations than any other player in the NFL last year and ranked a dreadful 30th in rushing yards per attempt, highlighting major issues that contributed to Ryan Grubb being fired after the conclusion of his lone season as offensive coordinator.

In the first two weeks of training camp, Seattle’s offense has continued to be outclassed for the most part in red zone situational drills with a talented defense holding serve against them. But that wasn’t the case on Monday, as all three offensive groups were able to finish off possessions with scores inside the opposing 20, starting with an impressive job by Darnold moving the pocket to avoid a crashing Derick Hall immediately following the snap and rolling out to his left to find Cooper Kupp on a comeback route for six points.

Moments later, Lock dropped back from shotgun and in a move that he has seemingly patented since starring at Missouri years ago, he lofted a throw off his back foot with a simple flick of his wrist as a couple of defenders approached him and hit an open Cody White in stride on a corner route in the end zone for another touchdown. Jalen Milroe added his own touchdown pass to White in the next sequence and to cap off the two-minute drill segment, Holani bolted out to his left on a sweep and found a caravan in front of him as he reached the sideline, turning upfield to find pay dirt on a six-yard touchdown run.

In total, Seattle’s offense produced four touchdowns inside the red zone and didn’t commit any turnovers, an excellent step forward addressing one of the biggest weaknesses from the team a year ago.

### 3\. Short yardage situations still dominated by Seattle’s front seven, particularly in battle of starters near goal line.

Though the Seahawks did a fine job of finishing drives on Monday, one significant issue continues to rear its ugly head in those situations and short yardage plays in general. Much like last year, the offensive line has not been able to create consistent push off the line of scrimmage, particularly when the first-team offense spars with a first-team defense anchored by Leonard Williams, Jarran Reed, and Demarcus Lawrence, with the latter consistently blowing up plays before they even can get started in his first camp in Seattle.

Time and time again on Monday, when needing to pick up a yard or two to move the chains, particularly in the red zone, Seattle’s offensive line as a whole got blown off the line, yielding rapid penetration into the backfield. Seeing work with the first-team offense with Ken Walker III sidelined by a sore foot, rookie Damien Martinez received a handoff from Darnold in the red zone on a third and short play and before he could even get the football high and tight, the tag team of defensive tackle Byron Murphy and safety Nick Emmanwori devoured him and bottled him up for a three-yard loss.

On the ensuing series, continuing a strong run of practices over the past several days seeing action with the second-team defense, third-year linebacker Drake Thomas shot into the backfield as if he had been unleashed from a rocket launcher, sprinting through the B gap to smack Holani two yards behind the line of scrimmage. He shouted in delight with his fists clenched and teammates crowded him to celebrate, though Lock came back with a vengeance to win the drive with his touchdown pass to White on the next snap.

There have been clear signs of progress with Seattle’s run game over the past several padded practices and the offensive line has been a big part of that with rookie Grey Zabel getting better each day and Anthony Bradford’s presence as the primary right guard stabilizing that aspect of the offense. But the inability to win with only a yard or two left to gain as a collective group still looks to be a potential Achilles’ heel that must improve before the season arrives next month.

### 4\. Post-play dust up briefly derails practice, but Leslie Frazier leads the charge to avoid further escalation.

Since coming on board as a second round pick out of Auburn two years ago, Derick Hall hasn’t been a stranger when it comes to finding himself entrenched in post-snap extracurriculars, including with teammates. Last season, as just one example, the fiery young edge defender got into a physical shoving and shouting match with defensive tackle Jarran Reed after he got flagged for leading with his helmet on a roughing the passer penalty against Bills quarterback Josh Allen. At one point, both players had a hold of each other’s face mask with the altercation getting caught on camera.

In last year’s training camp, Hall got booted off the practice field to hit the showers early by Macdonald when he got into a fight with guard Christian Haynes. He also has had a few close calls already earlier in this year’s camp where he got tangled up with blockers and appeared to be on the verge of losing his cool. On Monday, he grabbed onto Darnold in the pocket after the quarterback threw the ball, which drew angst from offensive linemen and put them into defense mode to protect the signal caller, leading to dozens of players rushing onto the field in what looked to be a potential brawl on tap.

Fortunately, even without Macdonald on the field to navigate the storm as he has done several times before in the past, Frazier leaned on his past experience as an NFL head coach to prevent the rushing onto the field from turning into something far worse. Cooler heads ended up prevailing with Hall separated from several offensive linemen and the ongoing scrimmage resumed without any more issues.

### 5\. Welcome back, Charles Cross… But not so much for Ken Walker III.

Late last week, Cross flew down to southern California to undergo surgery to repair a dislocated pointer finger, thrusting Josh Jones into the lineup with the starters protecting Darnold’s blind side. After practice on Friday, Macdonald indicated the Seahawks expected the former top-10 pick to return at some point between their final preseason game in Green Bay and the season opener against the 49ers at Lumen Field.

As it turns out, however, Cross had other plans. Sporting a brace on his surgically-repaired finger and wearing full pads on Monday, he participated in the individual period in the first 30 minutes of practice, working on his footwork and going through non-contact drills. He didn’t play in the scrimmage portion of practice, and it may be a while until he’s able to resume blocking, but the fact that he’s back on the field this quickly strongly suggests he should have problem being ready to roll for the season opener in a month.

While Cross practiced, Walker remained a bystander wearing his jersey, sweatpants, and tennis shoes on the sideline as he nurses a sore foot that bothered him during OTAs and minicamp this spring. Macdonald didn’t seem alarmed about the running back’s status after Saturday’s Football Fest, but he has now missed three straight practices, so it bears watching if he continues to be bothered by the injury.

In additional injury news, receiver Steven Sims Jr. remained out with an undisclosed injury, while linebacker Tyrice Knight exited practice early on Monday and long snapper Chris Stoll sat out with a tight back, leading to the signing of Zach Triner to the 90-man roster as a likely replacement for Thursday’s preseason opener.