The Panthers have added an experienced receiver and returner to their practice squad.
The team announced the signing of Ihmir Smith-Marsette on Tuesday afternoon. Smith-Marsette was with the Cardinals this summer and was released from their practice squad earlier this month.
Smith-Marsette also played for the Panthers in 2023 and spent the last two seasons with the Giants, although he never got off their practice squad last year. He served as their lead returner during the 2024 season and played for the Chiefs, Bears and Vikings earlier in his career.
Smith-Marsette returned a punt for a touchdown during his first stint with the Panthers and had a kickoff return score for the Giants. He has career averages of 8.3 yards per punt return and 30.1 yards per kickoff return to go with 14 catches for 182 yards.
Cardinals Clips
Through two games, there’s a statistical anomaly in the desert.
Cardinals receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. has just one catch for 33 yards.
Perhaps even odder, Harrison has received just four targets, despite playing 77 percent of the club’s offensive snaps.
It’s worth noting that one of those games came against the Seahawks, whose defense has been shutting down almost everyone since the start of last season.
Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur said after Sunday’s loss to Seattle not to look much into Harrison receiving just one target in that contest in part because “we didn’t throw the ball for crap anyway.” Quarterback Jacoby Brissett finished with just 95 passing yards on 28 attempts.
Still, the No. 4 overall pick of the 2024 draft seeing just four passes thrown his way over two games is inherently a reason for raised eyebrows.
On Monday, LaFleur noted that Harrison’s lack of targets is not or a lack of effort.
“I don’t see it that way. I think his running style is different than some other people’s — I would say that,” LaFleur said. “If that’s people’s narrative on him, that’s fine, but I know his teammates don’t feel that way.
“It’s a long season — we’re two games in,” LaFleur added. “There were some opportunities yesterday that I thought that either the defense dictated that it couldn’t go there or just self-inflicted wounds — it was kind of 50-50.”
Harrison and the Cardinals will try to get things going against another division rival in the 49ers on Sunday in Week 3.
Cardinals cornerback Will Johnson’s season might be finished.
He was injured late in Sunday’s loss to the Seahawks.
Coach Mike LaFleur said Monday that a neck injury could end Johnson’s season.
“Unfortunately, Will’s got a neck [injury],” LaFleur said, via Cardinals sideline reporter Paul Calvisi. “Potentially he could miss the whole season. Sucks for him, obviously.”
LaFleur said the team does not believe Johnson will require surgery.
Johnson played only 12 games in 2025 because of back, hip and groin injuries.
Slot cornerback Garrett Williams continues to work his way back from an Achilles injury. Denzel Burke has started in the slot in Williams’ absence. Cornerback Max Melton left Sunday’s game with a toe injury, and LaFleur calls him day-to-day.
The Cardinals will lean on Kei’Trel Clark and Kalen King in Johnson’s absence.
“You know what’s great is: I think we had a deep corner room and here we are,” LaFleur said, via Donnie Druin of SI.com. “Going into Week 3 and again, you’re sick for Will for obvious reasons. The person over the player, and then obviously, his teammates are sick for him, too. But hey, it’s ball, and we move on.”
The 49ers have a few injury concerns entering Week 3, including one to veteran receiver Mike Evans.
Via Nick Wagoner of ESPN, head coach Kyle Shanahan said on Monday that Evans will “have to be managed this week” as the wideout deals with a hip injury.
Evans exited Sunday’s 35-13 victory over the Dolphins in the second half and did not return. Shanahan noted postgame that the injury didn’t appear to be serious, and if the game had been closer, Evans could have returned.
Defensive lineman Romello Height has a broken hand and will need surgery. There’s an outside chance he could be available in Week 3.
Receiver Demarcus Robinson and defensive tackle James Thompson Jr. both have suffered high-ankle sprains. Robinson is a candidate for injured reserve, with the idea he could return.
But Shanahan also noted that the 49ers will have to be selective about who does and who doesn’t go to IR, because the team is running out of slots for players who can return from the list.
Additionally, defensive lineman Mykel Williams will not start practicing this week as he is still on the physically unable to perform list. He is more likely to be back for practice entering Week 4.
No Sam Darnold? No problem for the Seahawks’ passing game, as long as Jaxon Smith-Njigba is around.
With backup Drew Lock at quarterback, Smith-Njigba had a sensational day today, catching nine passes for 155 yards and three touchdowns, as Seattle cruised in Arizona, winning 31-7.
How important was Smith-Njigba to the Seahawks’ offense? When Lock was throwing to him, he completed 9-of-11 passes for 155 yards, with three touchdowns. When Lock was throwing to anyone else on the Seahawks, he was 10-for-15 for 80 yards and no touchdowns.
Emanuel Wilson led the Seahawks in rushing, with 20 carries for 92 yards. Jadarian Price chipped in 13 carries for 52 yards.
The Cardinals were competitive in the first half, but the Seahawks dominated in the second, and by the fourth quarter it was a blowout.
The defending champion Seahawks are now 2-0, and they have every reason to feel confident they can win it all again this season. The Cardinals fall to 1-1, and despite a promising start last week, Arizona does not look like it can compete in the NFC West.
Last Sunday, Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reported that the Seahawks were seeking up to four second opinions regarding quarterback Sam Darnold’s injured glute tendon.
Those second opinions came back better than expected.
Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reports that the various medical opinions were encouraging, and that Darnold is expected to return sooner than the Seahawks had initially believed. Darnold is not as injured as the Seahawks had initially feared.
Last Sunday, it was believed he could miss 4-6 weeks. Now, he possibly will return for Week 3 at Washington and, if not then, Week 4 vs. the Chargers.
For today at least, it’s Drew Lock time in Arizona, as the Seahawks try to extend their winning streak over the Cardinals to ten, and a franchise-record overall winning streak to twelve.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold left the Week 1 game against the Patriots after five snaps, with a hip injury becoming a glute tendon injury for which the team reportedly sought multiple second opinions.
Amid initial concerns that Darnold could miss 4-6 weeks, he could be back three weeks after the injury happened.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports that Darnold is “recovering faster than anyone had anticipated,” and that he could return to practice “in some form or fashion” this week. That doesn’t mean he’ll be ready to go against the Commanders in Week 3. He could be back in Week 4 vs. the Chargers.
A significant game is looming in Week 5. That’s when the 49ers, who beat the Seahawks in Seattle last season, return to town for what will be a potentially massive NFC West showdown.
Today against the Cardinals, it’s Drew Lock. The Seahawks have beaten Arizona nine straight times, tying the longest active streak by any franchise against another team. Via NBC Sports research, the Chiefs have also beaten the Commanders nine straight times.
More importantly, the Seahawks have now won 11 in a row. That equals the longest streak in franchise history. Which means, obviously, that a win today would give Seattle its first-ever 12-game win streak.
The Seahawks ruled quarterback Sam Darnold out for Week 2 a couple of days ago, but his health was still a topic for head coach Mike Macdonald during Friday’s press conference.
Darnold has not practiced since injuring his glute in the team’s season-opening win over the Patriots and Macdonald didn’t provide much sense about when that would change.
“He’s on his way back,” Macdonald said. “Is it next week? Is it the week after, the week after that? I’m not sure. I’m optimistic, put it that way.”
Drew Lock will start against the Cardinals with Jalen Milroe serving as their backup.
Safety Ty Okada (hamstring) will also mean the game. Safety Nick Emmanwori (hip, ankle) and guard Anthony Bradford (knee, hip) are both listed as questionable.
Cardinals running back Jeremiyah Love and Seahawks running back Jadarian Price were teammates at Notre Dame before they were first-round draft picks for division rivals this year. Love says the Cardinals’ defense has asked him about Price, and he’ll help the Cardinals’ defense prepare for Price in any way he can before their teams meet on Sunday.
“They’ve been asking me stuff like, What are some of his weaknesses? Stuff like that,” Love said. “J doesn’t have many weaknesses. If you can get him you got to get him. Once he gets the ball, he gets rolling. It’s hard to stop him. He’s real fast. . . . You’ve got to get him early. I think very highly of JD, so I don’t really know what to say. Got to get him. Get him before he gets rolling.”
Love said he considers Price like a brother, but that doesn’t mean he’s rooting for Price on Sunday.
“It will be a little different,” Love said. “I played with JD for three years at Notre Dame. He was my teammate. He’s not going to be my teammate this upcoming game. He’s still my brother at the end of the day, but we’re preparing to go to war, so it’s going to be him against my D and my offense against his D. I’m excited to see him. I haven’t talked to him in a minute. It will be good to compete against him and then after the game, talk to him and see how he’s doing.”
Asked whether his loyalties are with his friend or his team, Love answered, “My team.”
“This is the place where I’m at, these are the people I’m with right now, that I’ve been building bonds with,” Love said. “Me and JD have a bond off the field. Not on the field because we’re playing against each other. I would take my team over JD because it’s my team. I’m with the Cardinals, he’s with the Seahawks.”
In his Week 1 debut, running back Jadarian Price was on the field for only 24 snaps — less than half of the Seahawks’ total offensive workload.
That will be changing.
Offensive coordinator Brian Fleury told reporters on Thursday that Price will be getting more playing time moving forward.
“We were very deliberate about the reps that he was going to get, and how he was going to be used,” Fleury said. “He didn’t play in the preseason. It was the very first NFL game, huge stage. We wanted to be cautious in terms of his workload. He earned more reps moving forward, and we’ll continue to bring him along and develop him the right way.”
Fleury explained that the limited use of Price had nothing to do with “anything physical.” Said Fleury, “It’s just being a rookie.”
With Super Bowl LX MVP Kenneth Walker III gone in free agency and Zach Charbonnet out for at least the first four games as he continues to recover from an ACL tear suffered in the divisional-round win over the 49ers, Price is the top tailback.
With his 24 reps in the season opener, Price had 10 carries for 52 yards and two catches for six yards. The next opportunity comes in Arizona on Sunday, against the 1-0 Cardinals.
