Analysis: Observations From Seahawks’ 2026 Football Fan Fest
SEATTLE, Wash. - Taking the next step towards their upcoming regular season opener against the New England Patriots, the Seattle Seahawks welcomed fans back to Lumen Field for their annual Football Fan Fest practice on Saturday.
As they have done each of the previous two years with coach Mike Macdonald at the helm, Seattle held a full-fledged padded practice rather than a glorified scrimmage, mixing in plenty of individual drills, competitive 1-on-1 reps, and special teams time before implementing situational 11-on-11 team sessions. Crediting the 12s for showing up even with the Mariners playing next door, Macdonald felt pleased with the work his team got done in what amounted to a roughly 100-minute practice.
I really appreciate the effort that everybody took to get out. Thank you,” Macdonald said. “Having a lot of enthusiasm, just really felt the love from the 12s today. So that was really great. And then in addition to that, I think we got some really good work in. It wasn't the longest practice of all time, but we got some good stuff in, and we'll be ready to go next Saturday.”
What stood out at Seattle’s annual Fan Fest? Here are five observations from practice No. 13 at Lumen Field:
1. One year removed from torn ACL suffered in same practice, AJ Finley gets revenge picking off Sam Darnold.
While Fan Fest isn’t an actual game with tackling and coaches/officials lean towards using a quick whistle as a measure to prevent injuries, unfortunately, the event has a history of at least one serious injury occurring over the years. Former defensive end Brandon Jackson suffered a neck injury in August 2020, former running back Kenny McIntosh sprained his knee in the 2023 practice at Lumen, and just last year, Finley landed awkwardly in the end zone trying to defend a deep pass and tore his ACL, ending his season before it even started.
Fast forwarding a year later, Finley has made the full recovery back from reconstructive knee surgery while choosing to stay in Seattle with the team to rehab and unlike a year ago where he had to be carted off the field, he enjoyed a much better Saturday evening by turning in the first highlight play of the practice. After Darnold executed a play fake on the first series of an overtime situation drill, the quarterback tried to threat a deep ball to Jaxon Smith-Njigba on a corner route, but the throw sailed on him, allowing the safety to fly up from his two-deep zone responsibility and intercept the pass before momentum carried him out of bounds.
“It really didn't hit me until I got to the sideline and all the boys were congratulating me. It's definitely a full-circle moment,” Finley said afterward. “Just sticking to the process and taking it day to day, and honestly, it's been a hell of a ride. I got a lot of good people in my circle, my wife, my family. Honestly, being here, I stayed here with the team last year. That honestly helped me a lot. So yeah, it's been a great experience.”
Down the pecking order in arguably the deepest position group on the roster, Finley faces an uphill battle trying to make Seattle’s 53 this summer. But he has been a reliable special teams player throughout his time in the league and after an arduous rehab process coming off a severe knee injury, making such a play on the one-year anniversary of suffering the injury in front of a small contingent of fans had to be a fulfilling feeling.
Away from Finley, free agent signee Rodney Thomas also joined the interception party, benefiting from Drew Lock telegraphing a throw over the middle that might as well have had gift wrapping paper on the football with the safety’s name on it. The former Colts starter took off with the ball in his hands and returned it 20 yards before being tapped down along the sideline, making his second pick of training camp thus far as he aims to secure a reserve spot in a deep secondary group.
2. Montorie Foster Jr.’s unexpected ascent evolving from feel good story to legitimate 53-man roster threat.
A little over 12 months ago, Foster’s first NFL training camp ended after just a handful of practices, as an injury led to him being waived by the Seahawks with a settlement. As he recovered from the injury, no other opportunities arose and the undrafted receiver out of Michigan State worked as a substitute teacher and received his real estate license while continuing to train on the side, remaining unsigned deep into December.
But Seattle came calling a few days before New Year’s Eve, bringing Foster back onto their practice squad just in time for the Super Bowl run. Re-signed to a future/reserve deal two months later, he has been one of the biggest surprises in camp thus far, continuing to come through with big plays in Saturday’s Football Fest.
During a five-minute 1-on-1 competition period, Foster ran rookie cornerback Andre Fuller through a spin cycle with all eyes on the stadium watching, twisting the defender in knots coming out of an outside release before breaking back inside to the point where he almost tripped into a face plant on the turf. Coming wide open as he cut across the field on a crosser and the cornerback stumbled out of control, Jalen Milroe hit the receiver in stride and he walked into the end zone for an easy touchdown.
Only a few minutes later, even with Milroe delivering a badly underthrown deep ball along the left sideline, Foster delivered again during an 11-on-11 team session. With safety D’Anthony Bell draped on him, he worked back to the ball as the defender couldn’t react quick enough to the underthrow, bringing in the catch near the sideline and running around two defenders back inside before accelerating to the end zone for a 48-yard touchdown. He later added a first down catch from Milroe in the end zone, capping off another outstanding effort as he keeps climbing up the depth chart in what Macdonald called a “phenomenal” camp thus far.
3. Run game as a whole takes turn for the better behind several explosive runs early in team periods.
Earlier in the week, new offensive coordinator Brian Fleury indicated that Seattle’s run game wasn’t close to where he wanted it to be. While that likely still remains the case with a month until the season opener, Saturday’s practice marked another positive step forward with the run game generating several big plays during team sessions.
Right out of the gate, Holani cut a wide zone run outside, turning off left tackle Charles Cross’ backside for a 12-yard rumble before being two-hand tapped down. Only a few plays later, after Darnold’s interception ended the first-team offense’s initial drive, Emanuel Wilson checked in and ripped off a 15-yard run rumbling right up the gut, benefiting from stellar blocks from center Jalen Sundell and right guard Anthony Bradford to find a decent run lane to accelerate through.
“Whoever’s out there is going to make a play,” Wilson said of the running back group afterward. “We are going to lean on the linemen to make sure they get to the right blocks and we are going to go change the pressure.”
Breaking off the biggest run of the afternoon in the next team session, Holani got caught up on Cross at the line of scrimmage, but he bounced off the blocker outside to his left without any defenders waiting for him, managing to rocket out to the sideline before finally getting pushed out of bounds on a 31-yard run. Veteran running back/receiver hybrid Velus Jones Jr. then got into the act on a sweep, using his blazing speed to beat multiple defenders outside of the tackle box and turn upfield for an 18-yard pickup.
The run game wasn’t as heavily featured in the red zone, in part due to the congestion and lack of tackling making it a little tougher to evaluate. Still, recently signed veteran T.J. Harden punished his way past the goal line late in practice for the lone rushing touchdown of the evening, making his first significant contribution for a banged-up group.
4. Walking without a hitch, Nick Emmanwori closing in on next milestone in recovery from ankle surgery.
Time will tell when Emmanwori will be able to come off the PUP list, but after undergoing arthroscopic ankle surgery in late July, the star safety has made substantial progress since being in a boot the first couple days of camp. Sporting street clothes and tennis shoes, he could be seen doing light stretches with his teammates before practice got underway, something he hasn’t been seen doing since camp began.
Most notably, Emmanwori started playing catch with safety coach Jeff Howard’s two children on the sideline, even going through some half speed drop backs before throwing the ball a few times. That may not seem like a big deal, but he’s clearly moving better on the surgically repaired ankle and wouldn’t have been able to drop back to pass a week ago, so the signs of progress couldn’t be more evident.
With one month until the season opener, the next step for Emmanwori will be transitioning back into running and eventually cutting. Based on his current progress, it might not be long before he starts jogging, if he hasn’t already started to do it behind the scenes. On his current trajectory, a return to practice in the next few weeks wouldn’t be a surprise, though the team will be cautious with their young star to make sure he’s truly ready to go before coming back to the field.
5. Jadarian Price, Julian Neal remain sidelined, but prognosis stays positive for both rookies.
Dealing with “leg soreness,” Price missed his second consecutive practice, and the Seahawks did add an additional running back in undrafted rookie Justin Jones earlier on Saturday, which raised some flags for the fan base. However, Macdonald poured some water on the fire afterward, reaffirming that the injury was “minor” in nature and that the first round pick should be back in action soon, with Jones’ arrival likely having more to do with Jacardia Wright still being out with an ankle issue.
“It’s a matter of days,” Macdonald said.
As for fellow rookie Julian Neal, the third round pick out of Arkansas missed his 10th consecutive practice as he works back from a leg injury. But he could be seen lightly doing some high knees on the sideline and he’s walking well, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he’s closing in on his return to practice in the next week.
In additional injury news, fullback Robbie Ouzts remains out with an undisclosed injury and Macdonald didn’t have any new updates on the second-year player after Saturday’s practice. Tackle Logan Brown appeared to injure his right arm on the final play of the scrimmage and linebacker Chris Paul Jr. tweaked his ankle injury that caused him to miss a couple practices last week, but an update wasn’t provided for either player by Macdonald.
