Cornerback Greg Newsome has only been a member of the Jaguars for a couple of days, but the team plans for him to be on the field against the Seahawks on Sunday.
Newsome was acquired in a trade with the Browns earlier this week and joined the team on Thursday. Head coach Liam Coen said that “the plan right now is to be able to continue to onboard him as much as we can through the next few days here” in order to make it possible for Newsome to contribute on defense right away.
Newsome said he’s excited about making the move from a 1-4 Browns team to the 4-1 Jaguars.
“Obviously in Cleveland, you’re sitting there mad: ‘We’ve got to find a way, we’ve got to find a way,’” Newsome said, via Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com. “And then when I get here I’m like, ‘Wow, we just won.’ Obviously I didn’t play, but we just won. So, yeah, it feels amazing. I’m just going to try to do my best to help them keep this upward trend up.”
Newsome said that it’s difficult to cram an entire defense in such a short period of time, but expressed confidence that he’ll be prepared for “whatever” the team has in mind for him on Sunday.
The Seahawks tweaked their 53-man roster on Thursday.
They announced that they have signed defensive tackle Brandon Pili off of their practice squad. Wide receiver Cody White was released in a corresponding move.
Pili appeared in the first three games of the season as a temporary elevation, so he had to be signed to the roster to play against the Jaguars this weekend. He had one tackle in those appearances and had four tackles in 12 games for the Dolphins the last two years.
White played in one game for the Seahawks this season and he appeared in four games last season.
The Seahawks listed seven players as not practicing Wednesday as they began Week 6.
Cornerback Devon Witherspoon (knee), outside linebacker DeMarcus Lawrence (quadricep) and safety Julian Love (hamstring) did not return to practice after missing Sunday’s loss to the Buccaneers.
Outside linebacker Derick Hall, who left the game with an oblique injury, also sat out Wednesday’s practice.
Linebacker Ernest Jones IV (shoulder), offensive tackle Josh Jones (ankle) and defensive tackle Jarran Reed (rest) were the other Seahawks who missed Wednesday’s session.
Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald ruled out Hall and Jones for Sunday and said the team won’t know until the end of the week whether they will have Lawrence, Love and Witherspoon.
Cornerback Riq Woolen is another player whose status is uncertain, but he returned to limited participation in practice, a step in the protocol as he recovers from a concussion.
Rookie safety Nick Emmanwori (ankle) also was limited.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold went toe-to-toe with Baker Mayfield for almost all of Sunday’s matchup between Seattle and Tampa Bay.
But what ended up being Darnold’s last play of the day was a significant mistake.
Darnold was looking to throw the ball over the middle when his pass deflected off the helmet of a defender and went into the waiting arms of linebacker Lavonte David for an interception.
A few plays later, Chase McLaughlin hit a 39-yard field goal as time expired to give the Bucs a 38-35 win.
“[T]he last turnover, definitely on me,” Darnold said in his postgame press conference. “I was just trying to throw it away. I think it might have deflected off a helmet. Once I saw it was going to be hot to my left, I just tried to throw it away, and I think it deflected off somebody’s helmet. At the end of the day, I got to protect the football in that situation and can’t give them a short field to put the game away like that.
“I feel like that was bad quarterback play on that last snap.”
Part of that is because Darnold said he could have changed the protection call at the line.
“I had a good answer to that side, and I think Tory [Horton] was open as well on the right side,” Darnold said. “So, I just got to be a lot better there pre-snap.”
Darnold finished the contest 28-of-34 for 341 yards with four touchdowns and an interception. Through five games this season, Darnold has completed 73.1 percent of his passes for 1,246 yards with nine touchdowns and three picks.
Two pairs of former teammates showed out in Seattle on Sunday afternoon.
Former Panthers quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold were both dealing to former Ohio State receivers Emeka Egbuka and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
But in the end, the Buccaneers were able to get a needed turnover late in the fourth quarter and used it to set up another walk-off field goal, defeating the Seahawks 38-35.
The Seahawks used an eight-play, 99-yard drive to go ahead 35-28 with 3:18 left in the fourth quarter, as Darnold evaded a sack on fourth-and-2 in Tampa Bay territory to hit Tory Horton with a 21-yard touchdown.
But the Buccaneers were able to tie the game with Mayfield’s 11-yard TD pass to Sterling Shepard with 1:08 on the clock.
Armed with three timeouts, the Seahawks had plenty of time to get down the field and set up a last-second field goal. But on the second play of the possession, Darnold’s pass ricocheted off a defender’s helmet at the line of scrimmage and went right to the hands of veteran linebacker Lavonte David.
That set up Tampa Bay at the Seattle 35-yard line, though the Seahawks still had three timeouts. But that became a moot point once Rachaad White converted third-and-7 with a 12-yard run to put the Bucs on the Seattle 20.
After a kneel down, Chase McLaughlin nailed his 39-yard field goal to put the game away.
Mayfield got the better of Darnold in the QB duel, but Darnold still performed well for much of the contest. Mayfield finished 29-of-33 for 379 yards with two touchdowns. He also had 15 yards rushing.
Darnold finished 28-of-34 for 341 yards with four touchdowns and an interception.
Egbuka caught all seven of his targets for 163 yards with a touchdown, including a 57-yard bomb that set up a separate TD.
Smith-Njigba caught eight passes on nine targets for 132 yards with a touchdown. He had a 53-yard deep catch that set up a TD.
Another Seattle giveaway was part of the difference, as Jalen Milroe fumbled a pitch to running back Kenneth Walker during the second quarter. That turnover led to a Tampa Bay touchdown, with White scoring his first of two rushing TDs.
Tampa Bay finished the contest with 426 total yards, 25 first downs, and 7-of-11 on third down.
Seattle tallied 463 yards, 27 first downs, and was 6-of-9 on third down.
Now at 4-1, the Bucs will host the fellow 4-1 49ers next Sunday afternoon.
The 3-2 Seahawks will be on the road to play the Jaguars in Week 6.
