The Vikings may be turning to Max Brosmer at quarterback in Week 13.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell announced on Monday that J.J. McCarthy is in the concussion protocol. O’Connell said that McCarthy reported having concussion symptoms on the flight home after Sunday’s loss to the Packers in Green Bay.
Brosmer will take the first-team reps while McCarthy is working his way through the protocol and will start against the Seahawks if McCarthy is not cleared for the game. The undrafted rookie is 5-of-8 for 42 yards in four appearances this season, but has never started an NFL game.
McCarthy was 12-of-19 for 87 yards and two interceptions against the Packers. The 2024 first-round pick has thrown at least one interception in all six of his starts this season and missed five games with an ankle injury earlier this season.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba replaced DK Metcalf as the top receiver in Seattle this offseason and he replaced him in the franchise’s record book on Sunday.
Smith-Njigba caught eight passes for 167 yards to become the franchise’s single-season leader in receiving yards with 1,313. Metcalf set that record over 16 games in 2020, but it only took Smith-Njigba 11 games to pass his former teammate and the wideout said after the game that he credits quarterback Sam Darnold and other teammates with putting him in position to succeed.
“It means a lot,” Smith-Njigba said, via a transcript from the team. “This organization, great organization. Great receivers have come through here. Honestly, I look at it as a team award quite honestly because without Sam and without the protection, without Sheed [Rashid Shaheed] and Coop [Kupp], this doesn’t happen. So, I’m grateful and thankful and blessed for my team. Blessed to be a Seahawk.”
Smith-Njigba may not be done setting records. He’s on pace to become the first receiver in league history to post more than 2,000 receiving yards and his level of consistency to this point in the season — Smith-Njigba hasn’t finished a game with less than 79 yards — makes it look like he can make a real run at that milestone as well.
Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba set a franchise record and he remains on pace for an NFL record.
Smith-Njigba had eight catches for 167 yards against the Titans and now has 1,313 receiving yards for the season. That breaks the franchise record that Smith-Njigba’s former teammate DK Metcalf set in 2020 and Smith-Njigba is also on pace to become the first player with 2,000 receiving yards in a single season.
Two of Smith-Njigba’s catches went for touchdowns in a 30-24 win that pushes the Seahawks to 8-3 on the season. Last Sunday’s loss to the Rams means they’ll remain in second place regardless of what the Rams do against the Buccaneers on Sunday night, but the win was a good rebound from that result and a boost to their overall playoff chances.
Smith-Njigba has picked up at least 79 receiving yards in each game this season and he almost matched that on his first touchdown catch. It was a 63-yard strike from quarterback Sam Darnold and the wideout would take on a 56-yarder on the first play of the third quarter.
Week 13 will have the Seahawks back home to reunite Darnold with the Vikings. Darnold was 16-of-26 for 244 yards on Sunday and Kenneth Walker ran 11 times for 71 yards, but the team’s
Smith-Njigba’s second score put the Seahawks up 23-3 in the third quarter and the Seahawks were pretty quiet from that point. Titans rookie Chimere Dike returned a punt 90 yards for a score, Cam Ward scored his first NFL rushing touchdown and Dike caught a touchdown with 43 seconds left to play to bring the Titans within six points. The Seahawks were able to recover the onside kick and close out the win.
Ward was 28-of-42 for 256 yards and he ran for a team-high 37 yards, which makes for a bit of a silver lining on a day when his team fell to 1-10. He’ll try to build on the effort against the Jaguars in Tennessee next weekend.
The Titans are trading blows with the Seahawks in the second half of Sunday’s game, but that still leaves them down by 13 points late in the third quarter.
Rookie quarterback Cam Ward ran for a five-yard score with 1:18 to play in the third to cut the Seahawks’ lead to 30-17. It was the first NFL rushing touchdown for the first overall pick of this year’s draft.
Ward’s score came after Seahawks running back Zach Charbonnet ran for a score to put the Seahawks up by 20 points. Wide receiver Jaxon Smith Njigba opened the quarter with his second receiving touchdown of the game and the wideout set the Seahawks’ single-season record for receiving yards before Charbonnet’s score.
The Titans got their first touchdown in between those scores when Chimere Dike returned a punt 90 yards for a score. It was the rookie’s second punt return touchdown of the season.
The Titans produced the first points of Sunday’s game against the Seahawks, but the visiting team has done all of the other scoring.
Sam Darnold threw a long touchdown pass to wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Jason Myers made three field goals in three tries. The last of them came on the final play of the first half and sent the game into halftime with the Seahawks up 16-3.
The Seahawks will get the ball to open the third quarter, so they have a chance to put this game even more firmly in their control with a quick start to the second half.
Smith-Njigba has four catches for 86 yards as he looks to remain in a comfortable lead over the rest of the league in receiving yards. The Seahawks haven’t gotten much going on the ground thus far and getting that in order would help Seattle’s bid to run out the clock on a victory.
Titans quarterback Cam Ward led the team on a drive that ate up more than nine minutes to open the game, but the Titans opted not to go for a touchdown on fourth down and they haven’t come close to the end zone on their other possessions. Ward is 11-of-15 for 109 yards and he leads the team with 21 rushing yards, but five penalties and two sacks were drive killers during a half that needed more from the offense.
