After a holding penalty that wiped out a late touchdown in the Week 4 Thursday night game between the Seahawks and Cardinals, Seattle receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba said to referee Alex Kemp, “That’s some bullshit.” Kemp, along with anyone who was watching the game, heard it.
It should have drawn a flag. It did not, however, draw a fine.
Smith-Njigba’s name did not appear on the list of fines imposed by the league in the aftermath of all Week 4 games.
A pair of $11,593 taunting fines were issued for the game — one on running back Kenneth Walker III and one on cornerback Devon Witherspoon. Walker was flagged; Witherspoon was not.
Meanwhile, Smith-Njigba needs 98 receiving yards on Sunday against the Buccaneers to be the first player in Seahawks history with 500 or more receiving yards through the first five games of a season. And it can happen in the team’s 50th season, against the franchise that entered the NFL with the Seahawks in 1976.
Tom Brady and Peyton Manning have made their lists of the greatest receivers in NFL history.
In a recent episode of Rushmore on X, Brady and Manning discussed and debated their choices for the faces that should appear on the Mt. Rushmore of receivers. Both chose three wide receivers and a tight end.
Manning picked Jerry Rice, Marvin Harrison, Raymond Berry and Tony Gonzalez.
Brady picked Jerry Rice, Randy Moss, Larry Fitzgerald and Rob Gronkowski.
Manning picked one of his former teammates, Harrison, while Brady chose two of his, Moss and Gronkowski.
That Rice was the first choice of both Manning and Brady shows the extent to which he is viewed as the greatest receiver in NFL history, with no real debate. The debate, whether among sports fans or Hall of Fame quarterbacks, is usually the same: Not who’s the best wide receiver in NFL history, but who’s the second-best, after Rice.
Last week, Buccaneers kicker Chase McLaughlin nailed field goals of 58 and 65 yards. This week, McLaughlin’s range could be limited.
The Buccaneers updated their injury report on Saturday to disclose that McLaughlin has an illness. However, it’s not bad enough to keep him from traveling to Seattle — and he has no injury designation, which means that for now he’s good to go.
Still, there’s something that prompted the team to tell the work he’s not feeling well. If it gets worse, there could be more updates.
The Bucs will be hoping that he’s fine. They have no kicker on the practice squad. If for some reason McLaughlin becomes too ill to kick, they’d need to pivot presumably to punter Riley Dixon, who also was a kicker in high school.
The Seahawks ruled out four players for Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers.
They will not have safety Julian Love (hamstring), cornerback Devon Witherspoon (knee), outside linebacker DeMarcus Lawrence (quad) or backup offensive tackle Josh Jones (ankle).
Witherspoon, Lawrence and Love will not need a stint on injured reserve, coach Mike Macdonald said.
Rookie safety Nick Emmanwori (ankle) will return after missing the past three games. He had full participation all week.
The Seahawks added defensive tackle Byron Murphy to the injury report on Friday with a back issue. Murphy had limited work and has no injury designation.
The 49ers moved to 4-1 with Thursday night’s win over the Rams and they’re starting to look forward to getting some of their injured players back to help their push for more victories.
The wait for tight end George Kittle is likely to take at least one more week, however. Kittle is eligible to come off injured reserve ahead of their Week 6 road game against the Buccaneers, but head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters on Friday that it is “a long shot” that his hamstring will be well enough for him to play.
Shanahan said a Week 7 return at home against the Falcons is a more likely target for Kittle to return to action.
Kittle had four catches for 25 yards and a touchdown in Week 1 and went on injured reserve a few days later. Jake Tonges has stepped into the top tight end role with Kittle out of the lineup and has 19 catches for 166 yards and three touchdowns this season.
