Seahawks training camp Monday: Seattle signs second USFL player this camp

Did Dre'Mont Jones practice on Monday? 8/7/2023

The Seattle Seahawks held another practice in pads on Monday and the most notable player participating was defensive end Dre’Mont Jones. A day after concern following a reported “toe issue”, Jones didn’t miss one practice.

Unfortunately, Joey Blount was added to the report on Monday when he was carted off with “what appeared to be a back injury” per Bob Condotta. Blount was on my 53-man roster projection on Monday morning following Pete Carroll’s comments on Sunday that he was way ahead of where he was this time last year.

Next in injury updates, Zach Charbonnet seems to be at full-go, so there were no setbacks in his return from some shoulder “thing”. Kenny McIntosh isn’t going to practice this week, potentially not next week, but Carroll made it sound on Sunday as if the rookie running back would be ready for Week 1.

United Seahawks Football Legends

In roster news, the Seahawks worked out former Seahawk Chris Garrett on Monday, but instead signed a different linebacker who they also worked out: Jordan Ferguson. As I touched on in a bonus article on Sunday, Seattle’s past workouts, past tryouts, past players who were waived, these are all usual suspects to look towards when the team is expected to make an addition.

The Seahawks released undrafted free agent M.J. Anderson on Sunday, so Ferguson is the reaction move and the team is back at 90 players for now.

Ferguson played five seasons at Middle Tennessee State, showing out in the past two years with a combined 33.5 tackles for a loss, 17 sacks, seven batted passes, five forced fumbles, and one interception. In a game against UTSA in 2021, Ferguson had a sack and two tackles for a loss, while a player for the other team added his own TFL and a pass deflection.

Riq Woolen. Back then they called him “Tariq” though, so I wonder if Ferguson will even remember him.

And if you’re a fan of versatility, look at Ferguson’s final career college game: In the Hawaii Bowl against San Diego State, Ferguson intercepted quarterback Jalen Mayden and also caught a touchdown in a 25-23 victory over the Aztecs. Ferguson apologized after the game for spiking the ball and getting a flag because he didn’t know it was a penalty.

He had two sacks in the USFL this past season. He is the second USFL signing by Seattle, following Levi Bell.

More from Monday: Seahawks first 2023 depth chart!

If there is an area getting the most focus in this year’s “roster churn”, it appears to be along the edges of the defense: M.J. Anderson got the biggest UDFA signing bonus, then was one of the first players cut in training camp; Alton Robinson was released; then the team adds two USFL edge rushers in Bell and Ferguson.

And if we extend this to defensive line, the longest-tenured defensive end on the entire roster is Myles Adams, not including Jarran Reed’s previous stint. Everybody else, including Reed, was added this offseason. Think Pete is totally satisfied with his group of pass rushers? It doesn’t seem so.

Central Ideas

The third-most important news of Monday’s practice is that Evan Brown is once again with the starting offensive line. Nothing is official, but by all appearances, Olu Oluwatimi is tracking to be the backup and that’s assuming that Joey Hunt doesn’t make Pete Carroll feel a little more comfortable at this stage of their careers. I know Hunt hasn’t gone any runs with the starters, but Pete has said—if you believe him—it is due to the fact that they know exactly what Joey Hunt is. That does make sense.

Those are three big pieces of information on this training camp update, so if you just wanted the hottest news, that should cover more than enough.

If you want to go a little deeper this afternoon and review some other pieces of Seahawks-related content that I’ve found, I’ll add that for Regular Joes subscribers. Join the club if you haven’t already, but there’s no shortage of more free content like this one if you like it exactly where you are!

What you’ll see beyond the wall today:

• What does the OL do when Damien Lewis isn’t practicing? (We found out today)

• Why Tyler Lockett is so underrated

• K.J. Wright gives his analysis of Uchenna Nwosu

• Why Jake Curhan was LUCKY to go undrafted

• Derick Hall’s first great practice?

• Richard Sherman replaces Shannon Sharpe as the Undisputed co-host with Skip Bayless

• Pete Carroll’s thoughts on the Pac-12 madness

• Why Devon Witherspoon was a surprising selection if we’re going off of coverage statistics