Injuries already? These Seahawks are missing practice
Will Josh Jones even make it to training camp as a member of the Seahawks?
The timing of the Bobby Hart signing for the Seahawks this week was not just a coincidence, lining up with Seaside Joe’s newsletter about the offensive line depth. It is also an indication that Mike Macdonald is not happy with backup tackle Josh Jones’s readiness for practice.
Asked why Jones hasn’t been practicing in OTAs, Macdonald didn’t give specifics, only answering that “Josh hasn’t practiced yet” and that it’s “his responsibility” to be ready to practice.
Hart may not be insurance for Jones, but a straight-up replacement.
The Seahawks re-signed Jones to a one-year, $4 million contract in March, guaranteeing him $3 million. That’s the same amount of money that Seattle paid Marquez Valdes-Scantling to not play for them in 2025.
It is not clear if the Seahawks would get any money back, should they determine that Jones willfully missed practice or failed to condition properly.
For as little as I’ve thought about Jones in my life, he started the last three games of the season in place of Charles Cross. Two of those games (Rams, 49ers) were easily their most important games of the regular season. But for the head coach of a team to so openly criticize a player for not being ready to practice—in the same press conference where Macdonald gives words of encouragement to injured Seahawks—it implies that Seattle is not afraid to move on from Jones.
Who else is missing practice?
RB Zach Charbonnet (knee)
Charbonnet being on the field this week is not necessarily big news.
It’s a lot better than not being available at all, but we’ve all seen those videos of a player playing pickup basketball or running around a gym three months after ACL surgery. There’s just a huge difference between moving around a field and playing in a game.
The timeline for an ACL tear is still 8-12 months, suggesting that Charbonnet most likely starts the season on PUP, and could be available by October. The team has been optimistic since surgery, but Macdonald won’t go further than saying anything could happen:
"He's doing a great job," Macdonald said. "I know he has high expectations for himself, and we're looking forward to seeing where it ends up."
The silver lining to Charbonnet’s injury?
The Seahawks could benefit more from having Charbonnet healthy in the second half of the season, rather than risking him in the first half of the season.
WR Tory Horton
Horton is one that fans hoped would be healthy all offseason, but he had surgery related to his groin and/or shin injury in February and was not expected to be available during spring camps.
The concerning angle of Horton’s injury is not just the nature of this one (although a shin fracture could be problematic) but the frequency of injuries throughout his football career. Macdonald expects Horton back early in training camp:
"It's still all positive with Tory," Macdonald said. "He's not going to do anything today or tomorrow, but we should be looking at early on in camp if not the beginning of camp. If we stay on schedule and everything goes well, we'll be praying that he can be out there. You've got to be smart on how he comes back and all of that, but he should be active, it could be anywhere from Day 1 or maybe it's a couple of days, we'll see."
Frankly, I would not count on Horton. And Seattle really isn’t.
They’ve got receivers, they’ve got arguably the best return man in football, and Horton is just the sixth bullet in the chamber.
If the season gets down to firing that last shot and Horton is available, great. But his injury history suggests that Horton’s availability will always be in question.
TE Elijah Arroyo
There are no specifics available as to why Arroyo isn’t practicing, but similar to Horton, this is a young player who Seahawks fans want to hear is finally getting a full offseason in because of his injury history.
And he isn’t. Arroyo isn’t practicing, and neither was Eric Saubert or A.J. Barner last week. This helps explain why the team added Harrison Bryant right after the draft, and it’s a great opportunity for Nick Kallerup to move up the pecking order.
Arroyo was injured throughout his college career, and he missed two months during his rookie season. We’re not talking about a fifth-round pick here. Seattle invested the 50th overall pick in Arroyo and believed he would be a top-20 pick if not for injuries.
Well, this is why he was not a top-20 pick.
RB Kenny McIntosh
McIntosh is the future that the Seahawks don’t want for Horton and Arroyo. Here’s a player who is still missing practices, three years after his first one during 2023 preseason. Macdonald said that McIntosh is “coming along” but his odds of making the team as running back depth or a kickoff return man go down with every day off.
Macdonald’s been encouraged by what he’s seen from additions Jadarian Price and Emanuel Wilson so far:
"Both are going to be really good players in their own right," Macdonald said. "They're putting themselves in great positions going into the offseason. They're obviously in different parts of their careers, but I'm excited about both guys. Take it day by day, keep chopping away and doing a good job."
McIntosh is really competing with Jacardia Wright and Velus Jones, more so than those two and George Holani.
I’m still very hopeful on Horton. He was so impressive when I was at the VMAC last year, I immediately felt he was ahead of MVS and MVS offered no special teams play. I remain hopeful he will be ready and prove to be the 2nd round pick I thought he played like in camp last year. Arroyo will likely be ready for Camp, as will Barner. This tight end room with a TE OC should explode this year! I get the injury history, but my take on injuries is sometimes you’re just unlucky and it has nothing to do with being injury prone.
As another complement (backhanded) for Darnold, The Athletic rated the supporting offensive group for QBs in the NFC yesterday. They rated Seattle’s supporting cast as 10th best (out of 13) Only three teams have a worse offensive player group than the Seahawks. Darnold must be really damn good to do what he did. According to Derrik Klassen, “The Seahawks only lost ground from last year, they didn’t gain anyone.” — Danno on The Athletic Derrik Klassen. ‘He didn’t lose any ground from last year. He’s still as dumb as they come.’
Robert Mayes had the Hawks 8th best because - ick Brian Fleury compared to Kubiak. Am I the only one who feels MM thinks he found a true gem in Fleury? Before the Fleury interview, everyone was hinting the New OC was coming from within, including management. Do they not see that Fleury is what MM wants? It’s the same thing with Geno and Darnold all over again. In my mind, at the time of the Darnold hire, there was no question the Seahawks preferred him to Geno. While I don’t think it’s as extreme with Fleury, I feel the Seahawks don’t believe this is a step backwards, and could potentially be a step forwards.
Super stupid cliché is the best ability is availability. You can't do much on the field if you're sitting in the hot tub. Love ya, man. Write if you find work.