The Seahawks have taken three big losses before the season even starts.
During the joint practice with the Titans earlier in the week, the Seahawks lost wide receiver Jake Bobo for the season with a right leg injury.
During Sunday night’s preseason game in Tennessee, the Seahawks saw safety Bud Clark and offensive guard Mason Richman leave with injuries. Coach Mike Macdonald said after the 19-16 loss to the Titans that Clark and Richman were diagnosed with major injuries that will keep them out for months.
“We have had three heartbreaking injuries this week,” Macdonald said, via Brady Henderson of ESPN.
Clark, the team’s second-round pick, broke his ankle and will miss “multiple months.”
He was injured on the Titans’ first play from scrimmage on a 9-yard run by Tony Pollard and wore a vacuum splint on his right leg as he left the field.
Henderson reports that another of the Seahawks’ backup safeties, Rodney Thomas II, underwent surgery last week to repair a fracture in his hand. Thomas has a chance to return next week.
It is unclear what Richman’s injury is, but Macdonald called it “long term.”
Richman is the backup to Grey Zabel, though he started at left guard against the Titans with Zabel not playing.
Titans Clips
Titans rookie wide receiver Carnell Tate was held without a catch in the preseason opener and then missed practice time this week, but quarterback Cam Ward has no doubt that there are big things in store for Tate.
Ward said today that Tate, who returned to practice after a few days off, didn’t get down about not having catches in the preseason game against the 49ers and always displays the right attitude.
“He never shows that to the team, whether he’s frustrated or not. The thing about Carnell, whether he has a drop or I have a bad pass, he never points a finger at nobody. He always comes back with a next play mentality,” Ward said. “He wants the ball, so when the ball does get thrown his way he’s urgent to it. He goes up and high points it, there’s times when he bails me out when the ball needs to be better.”
Ward said he has no doubt that Tate, the No. 4 overall pick in the draft, will have a major role in the offense.
“He’s been great. He may not have had the splash plays like he always does today, but he’s going to be a key reason we’re successful on offense,” Ward said.
After what Ward described as a “very competitive” joint practice with the Seahawks today, the Titans will face the defending champs in a preseason game on Sunday.
Titans first-round pick Carnell Tate is back on the practice field Friday.
Tate missed the last few days of work due to what head coach Robert Saleh termed stiffness, but videos from Friday’s joint practice with the Seahawks show that the wide receiver is back to work. Tate’s status for Sunday’s preseason game between the teams is uncertain.
Quarterback Cam Ward targeted Tate three times during Tennessee’s first preseason game against the 49ers, but the rookie did not reel in any of the passes.
Ward was 5-of-12 for 57 yards overall in that game. Saleh said afterward that he thought the second-year quarterback was “a little sped up” in that contest and the Titans will be hoping to see a calmer outing this time around.
The Titans signed a pair of defensive players on Friday morning.
Defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon and linebacker Milo Eifler have been added to the 90-man roster in Tennessee. Tight end Matt Lauter and cornerback Nazeeh Johnson were placed on injured reserve in corresponding moves.
Kpassagnon was a Chiefs second-round pick in 2017 and spent four years with the team before moving on to a four-year run with the Saints. He played in four games for the Bears last season and has 146 tackles, 17.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery for his career.
Eifler has appeared in 17 games for the Commanders and Falcons over the last four seasons. He has four tackles while appearing almost exclusively on special teams.
Last month, the federal judge handling the Brian Flores case sent a very clear message to the NFL that it was time to end the arbitration quest and start defending the claims on the merits.
The NFL didn’t get the message. At least not completely.
While some of the claims in the Flores case have moved to the discovery process, the league has appealed Judge Valerie Caproni’s most recent ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit as to Flores’s claims against the Dolphins, Steve Wilks’s claims against the Cardinals, and Ray Horton’s claims against the Titans.
In all three cases, the plaintiffs had contracts with those teams containing arbitration clauses that referred any disputes to the Commissioner or his designee. Still, the overriding problem (as multiple courts have concluded) comes from the effort to delegate the judge/jury role to the NFL.
There’s a big difference between arguing to the court and arguing with the court. The NFL currently seems to be trying to convince multiple courts that they’re wrong.
Either way, multiple claims in the Flores case will continue to be stuck at square one. Which will serve only to slow down any effort to get the four-year-old case ready for trial.
The Titans added several veteran offensive linemen this offseason, but a rookie that joined the team on the final day of the draft may wind up as one of their five starters come week one.
Fifth-round pick Fernando Carmona started at right guard in the team’s first preseason game last week and he is in line to start again this week.
“He put his foot in the door, and he’s doing everything he can to throw his shoulder through,” head coach Robert Saleh said, via Teresa M. Walker of the Associated Press.
Carmona started at left tackle at San Jose State and Arkansas before moving to guard in his final season with the Razorbacks. He said on Wednesday that practicing against defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons has helped spur his growth this summer.
“Being a rookie, there’s a lot of things I need to grow on, and he sees a lot of those flaws in me,” Carmona said. “And it’s just awesome having that veteran leader being able to tell you what he sees and how it can improve my game.”
The Titans are hoping that Saleh’s hiring will usher in a more successful run of football than they’ve enjoyed in recent years and Carmona could wind up being a part of that.
There is some positive news on the injury front for the Titans.
Both quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and running back Tony Pollard returned to practice on Wednesday, according to multiple reporters on the scene.
Trubisky exited practice early on Monday to have a biceps injury evaluated. But with his presence at practice on Wednesday, he is apparently OK.
Trubisky is in line to be Tennessee’s backup behind Cam Ward in 2026. The Titans also have Will Levis and Hendon Hooker on their roster at QB.
Pollard, who has rushed for over 1,000 yards in each of the last two years with Tennessee, is back after missing the last two sessions.
The Titans are bringing in a veteran running back.
Tennessee has agreed to a one-year deal with D’Ernest Johnson, according to Jordan Schultz of The Schultz Report.
Johnson, 30, spent much of last year with the Patriots, appearing in seven regular-season games and the club’s four postseason games. He averaged 25.6 yards per kick return in the regular season and 26.1 yards per kick return in the postseason.
Johnson entered the league in 2019 as an undrafted free agent with the Browns. He’s played 103 games with three starts for Cleveland, Jacksonville, Arizona, and New England, rushing for 1,014 yards with three touchdowns. He’s also caught 53 passes for 465 yards in his career.
Though he exited Monday’s practice with a groin injury, Breece Hall is expected to be ready for Week 1.
Jets head coach Aaron Glenn told reporters on Tuesday that Hall will be out for two to three weeks, but he should be back for the regular season.
That’s good news for a player who is expected to be one of the focal points of New York’s offense. In 16 games last season, Hall rushed for 1,065 yards with four touchdowns and caught 36 passes for 350 yards with one TD.
Additionally, Glenn noted that Kenyon Sadiq and D’Angelo Ponds are getting closer to returning from their respective injuries, though the focus is having both players available for Week 1.
The Jets will be on the road to face the Steelers on Friday night for the second week of preseason play.
Titans backup quarterback Mitchell Trubisky made an early exit from practice on Monday.
Reporters at the workout said that Trubisky grabbed his right arm after throwing a pass. Head coach Robert Saleh said at a post-practice press conference that Trubisky is being evaluated for a biceps injury.
Trubisky is currently the No. 2 quarterback on the depth chart behind Cam Ward. The veteran signed with the Titans as a free agent this offseason.
Will Levis is the third quarterback on the roster and would be in line for more playing time if Trubisky is sidelined for a stretch. That would give him a chance to back up his assertion that he’s one of the best 32 quarterbacks in football.
