Camp Takeaways: Cooper Kupp, Seahawks ‘Sharpen Iron’ in Competitive Back-and-Forth 12th Practice
RENTON, Wash. - Throughout the constant ebbs and flows of an NFL training camp, most practices offer a clear winner between the offense and defense.
But on Friday morning, for those in attendance at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center taking in the Seattle Seahawks’ 12th practice and penultimate session open to fans, trying to determine a “winner” proved to be far more challenging with a balanced, back-and-forth effort featuring a blend of big plays on offense and turnovers generated on defense.
“Competition, that’s what these practices mean, especially at this time of camp,” receiver Rashid Shaheed told reporters moments after practice concluded. “With all the installs coming in, now it’s just about execution, going out and playing football. When we have a great offense and a great defense, we are going to see some back and forth and push. It’s just going to get us better at the end.”
What stood out from Seattle’s hyper-competitive 12th practice of the summer? Here are five takeaways from Friday’s session at the VMAC:
1. Defense starts off situational periods hot, turns over Sam Darnold twice for quick changes to the delight of Mike Macdonald.
Prior to Friday, Darnold has only been picked off a handful of times in camp, doing a tremendous job of protecting the football in 7-on-7 and team drills. But in a situation-heavy practice, the Seahawks’ stingy defense got the better of him twice during the first couple of series, making him pay for trying to thread the needle both in the short and deep passing game.
After connecting with Cooper Kupp for a 10-yard touchdown on a curl route on Seattle’s opening series, Darnold came back firing over the middle with tight end AJ Barner appearing to be open on a short crossing pattern. However, linebacker Drake Thomas had a great beat on the football in coverage and took the backdoor to get into the passing lane, managing to pick off a throw that was a hair too far out in front of the receiver for a diving interception.
Two series later, with the Seahawks running a bit more up tempo pace-wise, Darnold again tried to deliver a strike into tight coverage with not-so-desirable results. After executing a play fake, he lofted a deep ball down the left sideline to Cody White, putting plenty of air underneath the throw to give the receiver a shot at making a play on the football. But Nehemiah Pritchett basically ran White’s route for him, staying right on his hip the entire way downfield and reeling in the pass over his shoulder for a great in-traffic pick.
While Macdonald obviously enjoyed seeing both picks, he seemed especially fired up by Pritchett’s interception, as the third-year cornerback continues to seize his opportunity so far battling for the No. 3 spot on the depth chart as a replacement for Riq Woolen. The catch came with a fairly high degree of difficulty considering he had to track the ball over his shoulder while sprinting full speed, drawing tons of cheers from the crowd on the hot berm.
2. Rebounding from couple of mishaps, Darnold takes flamethrower to ‘Hawks secondary in the final 30 minutes.
Among his most endearing qualities, as he proved time and time again last season while guiding the Seahawks to 17 victories, Darnold excels at putting mistakes behind him and quickly redeeming himself. That trait couldn’t have shined much more brightly on Friday, as he came back with a vengeance after Thomas and Pritchett intercepted him during the early stages of the scrimmage periods.
Scorching hot in the final half hour on the field, while running a two-minute offense, Darnold tossed back-to-back 50 yard touchdowns to Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp. On the first throw, he hit the reigning Offensive Player of the Year in stride on a deep in-breaking route and the receiver sprinted past an oncoming defender, allowing him to turn upfield along the sideline for six points. On the very next snap, looking quite spry as he has throughout camp, Kupp came open down the seam and the quarterback hit him right on the hands as the vet turned on the jets and outran multiple defenders to paydirt.
After the second and third-team units took their turns, Darnold kept dominating in the ensuing red zone situational drill, throwing three touchdowns in a matter of minutes. The first scoring toss went back to Smith-Njigba, who managed to create last minute separation against rookie Andre Fuller on a slant over the middle and hauled in a well-placed throw low to the ground. On the next play, the quarterback lofted the ball high to Cody White on a corner route over two smaller defensive backs as the receiver managed to get both feet down inbounds.
To cap off a thrilling finish for the offense, Darnold executed a perfect shovel pass to tight end Elijah Arroyo, who scampered through traffic in the middle for a 10-yard touchdown. Overall, five of the quarterback’s last nine passes resulted in touchdowns as he rebounded nicely from a few miscues earlier in practice to turn in a strong session.
3. In midseason form, Michael Dickson’s magic foot delivers a plethora of punts deep in opposing territory.
Live punts rarely happen in a training camp setting, or at least that has been the case under Macdonald over the past few years. But on Friday, sticking with the situational nature of the practice agenda, Dickson booted a quintet of punts during the team period, putting Darnold, Drew Lock, and Jalen Milroe all in unenviable situations pinned near their own end zone.
After Tory Horton successfully caught Dickson’s punt with a quick whistle - there wasn’t a blocking team on the field for the Seahawks - his next kick was swatted down by running back Velus Jones Jr. just short of the goal line, with the ball being downed at the two-yard line. Rookie Michael Dansby downed the next punt inside the five-yard line, this time forcing Lock and the second-team offense to have to go 95 yards to score a touchdown.
Wrapping up his day, Dickson’s next two punts ended up inside the six-yard line, with one bouncing out of bounds just before getting to the pylon for a potential touchback and the second one successfully being downed at the six. The Seahawks have become accustomed to his greatness dictating field position and helping out the defense over the years with his booming leg and as he goes into his ninth year, he looks poised to once again be among the top contenders for All-Pro consideration as a true special teams weapon.
4. The battle for the final receiver spot - or two? - continues to sit atop the most compelling competitions.
With Smith-Njigba, Shaheed, Kupp, and Horton entrenched as the top four receivers and Jake Bobo expected to be on the roster once he returns from injury, the Seahawks don’t have much drama at the receiver position. With that said, the battle for a sixth - or maybe even a seventh - wideout spot on the 53 couldn’t be much fiercer after close to two weeks worth of practice, and Friday only muddied up that picture more moving towards Saturday’s Fan Fest practice at Lumen Field.
Among those continuing to catch the eye of teammates and fans alike, second-year receiver Montorie Foster Jr., who spent most of last season out of the league as a substitute teacher while waiting for his next shot to play, caught a touchdown from Lock in the red zone and hauled in three other catches during the scrimmage periods. Now with five touchdown receptions in open practices at Seahawks camp, he has slowly started to creep up the depth chart on offense while being in the heat of the competition for a gunner spot on special teams, earning praise from Shaheed afterwards for his surprising emergence this summer.
“His route to get here hasn’t been easy, but his approach to everyday… He’s in the meetings, he’s asking questions, and super locked in,” Shaheed said of Foster. “When you are locked in like that, you come out here and you’re just able to play fast and play free, and that’s exactly what he’s doing. It’s been impressive and I’m super proud of him.”
Away from Foster, Cody White caught the aforementioned touchdown from Darnold and made a couple other tough catches, remaining a reliable option when targeted. Second-year wideout Ricky White III had a 35-yard catch and run on a crossing route from Milroe, picking up big yardage with the ball in his hands and drawing major props from receiver coach Frisman Jackson on the sideline, while 6-4 veteran Irv Charles also hauled in a touchdown toe-tapping the back of the end zone.
With the preseason set to start next weekend, Foster, Cody White, Ricky White III, and Charles all remain legitimate roster threats, and rookie Emmanuel Henderson also sits squarely in the mix. Seattle will hope to bring back several of those players on the practice squad after initial cuts, but it’s anyone’s guess at this point how the room will shake out with so many viable competitors vying for what likely will be a single spot on the 53.
5. Nowhere to be found sporting his No. 8 on the practice field, Jadarian Price becomes the latest Seahawk to sit out.
In the midst of their “everyday” drills, including taking handoffs from the quarterbacks and making cuts against rolling exercise balls, a major absence became apparent with Price missing in action. Without Macdonald available to reporters after practice, the reason for him being sidelined remained a mystery, though a team source later confirmed he was out with leg soreness.
While that doesn’t sound serious and Price likely received a rest day as a means to make sure he was fresh for Saturday’s practice, leg soreness is a relatively vague term and doesn’t necessarily mean that he will back in quick order. After participating in every practice prior to Friday, it will be interesting to see whether or not he’s back in pads for Fan Fest, and if he isn’t, there will be more questions that Macdonald will most certainly have to answer afterward.
In addition to Price being out, cornerback Julian Neal, defensive end Mike Morris, linebacker Jamie Sheriff, fullback Robbie Ouzts, running back Jacardia Wright, and Bobo remained sidelined on Friday. In the positive news department, second-year linebacker Chris Paul Jr. returned to action after missing two practices with an ankle injury, while Jared Ivey practiced in full after missing parts of six practices.
