Seahawks Football Fest has come and gone for another year, leaving the next significant offseason checkpoint as the first preseason game in a week. While not much more than an opportunity to get the team into the stadium in front of a partial crowd, it’s still a valuable experience for the players. But what transpired specifically out there tonight?
An Early Wrapup
My understanding was that the event would run for about 30-40 minutes longer than it did. Whether the decision to cut it short was prompted by something in particular isn’t yet clear, but this does leave us with a bit less to go on than we might have expected. Working with the coverage we did pick up through the evening, let’s start with…
Elijah Arroyo Shines
According to Gregg Bell, Arroyo was able to carry his excellent training camp over into the mock game. There’s a lot of expectations on Elijah’s shoulders this season, and so far the indicators are positive. He beat Bud Clark twice, once at the goal line for a touchdown, and then juked out Julian Love for a touchdown from Darnold in 11 on 11. He’s a big winner today.
Montorie Foster Jr Wants That Roster Spot
Foster has a lot between him and the 53 man. Five wide receivers are locked in, and even if the team decides to keep six, players like Cody White, Ricky White, Irv Charles, and Emmanuel Henderson Jr are battling for it. But Foster isn’t taking it laying down so far in camp, and today he had two touchdowns, one on a Superman-like dive. Don’t count him out.
A.J. Finley’s Redemption
A year ago, A.J. Finley tore his ACL during Seattle’s mock game, ending his season before it began. So you can bet it meant a lot to him to haul in an interception of Sam Darnold during a simulated overtime session. Yes, Jaxon Smith-Njigba fell down to make it possible, but it was a big moment for a player that the team has a lot of optimism for going forward.
Injury Updates
Also notable were the players who weren’t out on the field tonight. Nick Emmanwori obviously didn’t partake in the simulated game, but did offer encouragement in the form of some stretching and walking around on the sideline. Jadarian Price was similarly out and in street clothes, but Coach Mike informed us that his return should be just a few days away.
Rylie Mills Wrecking Shop
I wanted to hear about Mills’s presence in the backfield during the mock game, and Josh Hite of The Hawks Eye Pod said that he was ‘living’ in it for much of the evening. This team’s ceiling could be redefined by having a third game-wrecking interior defensive lineman, and Mills looks like he’s going to be that guy so far. We’re getting everything we could have wanted so far.
Other Assorted Updates
Beyond that, we did get a handful of other injury updates, like the presence of Julian Neal and Robbie Ouzts in street clothes on the sideline. Logan Brown, Mason Richman, and Chris Paul Jr got dinged up during the event. JSN had a great touchdown in one-on-one, Witherspoon got Kupp back after yesterday with a nice pass breakup, the usual studs studding it up.
All-in-all, it was a successful simulated game for the Seahawks, if perhaps a little lighter on specifics than some previous years. On to the preseason!
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