The Seattle Seahawks have played the past two games without cornerback Devon Witherspoon. A Pro Bowler in his first two NFL seasons in 2023 and 2024, Witherspoon got sidelined by a knee injury.
But after allowing 384 yards in a season-opening 17-14 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the Seahawks allowed 267 yards and defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-17 on Sept. 14, then allowed 284 yards and beat the New Orleans Saints 44-13 on Sunday.
Josh Jobe started in Witherspoon’s spot in the two victories. Against the Saints, the former Alabama defensive back reached career highs with 11 tackles and, for the third time in his 41 NFL regular-season games, played more than 90 percent of the defensive snaps. He also did that the previous week against Pittsburgh.
Jobe lost an interception off New Orleans quarterback Spencer Rattler to an illegal-contact penalty. He had a third-down breakup in the end zone that caused the Saints to settle for a second-quarter field goal.
Jobe had become a regular contributor for Seattle even before going into the lineup with Witherspoon down. But he didn’t make his debut with the Seahawks until their seventh game of the 2024 season, when he got to play as a practice-squad elevation because of injuries in the Seattle secondary.
“I love telling the story because this time last year, he wasn’t playing for us,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said about Jobe. “This is a guy that has come in and really bought into the process, and the details matter for him. And he does it every day. There’s a consistency there that you respect, and he’s earned these opportunities, which is really cool.
“If you were the coach of the team, wouldn’t you want it to work like that? Guys coming in, earning their opportunities, developing, growing as players, as people. That’s what he’s done.”
Quarterbacks have targeted receivers covered by Jobe 18 times this season. They have completed eight passes for 50 yards and no touchdowns. Jobe got his second NFL interception when he picked off San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy in the opening game.
Quarterbacks have a 28.5 passing-efficiency rating when throwing against Jobe in 2025. The only player who has faced as many passes as Jobe and has a lower rating is Jacksonville Jaguars slot corner Jourdan Lewis at 25.9.
“It’s the standard that we set,” Jobe said. “And got to keep a high standard, it doesn’t matter who’s on the field. We all as one, and we stand together. That’s the main thing. …
“I mean, it’s great, man. Whatever coach calls, we buy in by the week and just being decisive and being shocking every day and every week.”
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Seattle’s victory over New Orleans was its most one-sided since Dec. 13, 2020, when the Seahawks routed the New York Jets 40-3. The team’s third victory by at least 31 points in 10 seasons allowed Seattle to stand with the Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the NFC’s undefeated teams three weeks into the season.
“It’s a big win,” Jobe said after Sunday’s game, “but we got to just continue, man. Doesn’t matter if we beat the team by a lot or by a little, we got to keep going every week.”
The Seahawks will kick off Week 4 of the NFL season with an NFC West contest against the Arizona Cardinals at 7:15 p.m. CDT Thursday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Prime Video will televise the game.
Witherspoon has been listed as a limited participant in practice this week, but he is expected to return to the field in Thursday night’s game.
Jobe was a starter in the Alabama secondary in his final two seasons with the Crimson Tide, including for the 2020 undefeated CFP national-championship team. But he entered the NFL as an undrafted rookie.
Jobe made the Philadelphia roster, played in 11 regular-season games and Super Bowl LVII in his first season in 2022. In 2023, he played in every game, with three starts, for Philadelphia and was one of the NFL’s most active special-teamers with 323 plays.
In 2024, the Eagles cut Jobe when they reduced their preseason roster to the regular-season limit of 53 active players. Jobe joined the Seahawks as a practice-squad member and did not play in the first six games of the 2024 campaign.
Jobe made his Seattle debut as a practice-squad elevation on Oct. 20, 2024, in a 34-14 victory over the Atlanta Falcons, and he played in the Seahawks’ next two games in that manner, too.
Because a practice-squad player cannot be elevated to active status more than three times in a season, Seattle signed Jobe to its 53-man active roster on Nov. 11 so he could keep playing. Over the next seven games, he started five times before landing on injured reserve for the season finale after sustaining a knee injury.
In 2024, Jobe played 443 defensive snaps – 191 more than in his first two seasons combined. He recorded 37 tackles, including 29 solo stops, intercepted one pass and broke up seven.
Jobe was on course to become at least a restricted free agent during the offseason. But six days before reaching that point in March, Jobe stayed with Seattle for a one-year, $2 million contract.
As they had for the previous two seasons, the Seahawks opened 2025 with Witherspoon and Riq Woolen as their starting cornerbacks. The plan this season was to move Witherspoon into the slot and insert Jobe at outside corner when Seattle went into its nickel alignment.
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