RENTON – After a day off, the Seattle Seahawks were back on the field at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center for their fifth OTA practice of the spring on Wednesday afternoon.
This was the second OTA practice that was open to the media, with Monday’s practice being the first.
Unlike last year, Seahawks’ defense now gets to ‘just play fast’
Once again, it’s difficult to glean too much from this stage of the offseason, as no live contact is allowed and it’s still early in the process of installing the offensive and defensive playbooks. But with that in mind, here are some notes and observations from what transpired.
Darnold has a better day
After an up-and-down practice on Monday, quarterback Sam Darnold appeared to have a better afternoon this time around.
During an early 11-on-11 two-minute drill, Darnold connected twice with second-year tight end AJ Barner over a five-play span. Darnold threw a strike up the seam to Barner for 15-plus yards and then hit him again for a 5-yard TD on fourth-and-goal, with Barner making a sliding catch along the left edge of the end zone.
Darnold also threw TD passes to receivers Cooper Kupp, Jake Bobo and Marquez Valdes-Scantling during team drills. The latter of those came on a great route by Valdes-Scantling during an 11-on-11 red-zone period near the end of practice. Valdes-Scantling faked a slant route and then broke hard back to his left, which enabled him to gain separation from cornerback Riq Woolen and haul in a 5-yard TD pass.
In addition, Darnold showed off his arm strength on a deep pass that he uncorked on the run while rolling out to his right. Valdes-Scantling hauled it in for a long reception, but the play was called back due to an illegal-man-downfield penalty.
Darnold did throw two more interceptions, but both came off deflections.
On the first pick, Darnold threw a deep pass to Valdes-Scantling that AJ Finley deflected and fellow safety D’Anthony Bell snared for an interception – although the play was called back due to a penalty. On the second pick, Darnold tried to force a pass over the middle on an intermediate crossing route, but Bell tipped the pass into the air and safety Ty Okada snagged it.
Darnold has thrown four picks over the past two OTA practices. But as Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald alluded to during his conversation Tuesday on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk, this is the time of year for quarterbacks to push the envelope and not worry about mistakes. Darnold shared a similar perspective when asked on Wednesday.
“At the end of the day, I want to go out there and play clean football, but also I want to go through progressions and be aggressive,” Darnold said. “And especially those seven-on-seven periods, there’s no threat of the run, so those linebackers are getting some depth, and so (I’m) trying to maybe push some stuff down the field that maybe I shouldn’t.
“I’ve gotta learn from some mistakes there and maybe just check it down. But it’s fun to be able to push the ball down the field and kind of see what (our receivers) can do in terms of being able to make plays down the field.”
Other defensive highlights
Josh Jobe, who currently slots as the team’s third cornerback, made a nice pass breakup on a deep sideline pass from Darnold that was intended for Valdes-Scantling.
Jared Ivey, a 6-foot-6, 274-pound undrafted rookie edge rusher out of Ole Miss, broke up a pass from third-string quarterback Jalen Milroe at the line of scrimmage.
The O-line rotation
There appeared to be a bit more mixing and matching along the offensive line than there was on Monday, but the first and second teams were mostly the same.
In general, the first-team reps went to Charles Cross at left tackle, rookie first-round pick Grey Zabel at left guard, either Jalen Sundell or Olu Oluwatimi at center, either Christian Haynes or Anthony Bradford at right guard, and Abraham Lucas at right tackle. The one difference from Monday was that Sundell began as the first-team center over Oluwatimi.
The second-team O-line again generally featured Michael Jerrell at left tackle, Sataoa Laumea at left guard, either Sundell or Oluwatimi at center, either Haynes or Bradford at right guard, and veteran Josh Jones at right tackle.
More on the Seattle Seahawks
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• Seattle Seahawks rookie DB Nick Emmanwori is versatile, and that’s tricky
• Salk: Seahawks coach Macdonald backs Darnold for all the right reasons
• ‘Crazy question,’ Seattle Seahawks coach responds when asked about QB situation
• Brock Huard: Clock is ticking on Seattle Seahawks at one position
