We’re one step closer toward the return of Seattle Seahawks football for a 50th season.
Training camp kicked off at Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton on Wednesday, with fans in attendance watching the first of 10 public practices. The first few practices are not padded, so it’s sort of a ramping up process before we get to something closer to physical football, but there are nevertheless several news items to report from Day 1.
News
Uchenna Nwosu isn’t close to returning yet
The Seahawks outside linebacker has missed over half of all regular
season games over the past two years with three separate injuries, and he’s recovering from offseason knee surgery. Coach Mike Macdonald indicated that Nwosu’s return is “not necessarily close” and seemingly indicated that he may not be ready for the start of the regular season.
“We’ll see,” Macdonald said regarding how close Nwosu is to practicing. “We’re going to the season, probably throughout the rest of camp, and then we’ll go from there. We’ll just hold on to the timeline right now, but we’re not necessarily close right now.”
Nwosu was present at VMAC to sign autographs for fans, so at least that’s good.
Johnathan Hankins on NFI, but it’s not serious
The veteran nose tackle is on the non-football injury list with a back issue, but there’s no reason to panic based on Coach Macdonald’s comments.
“Yeah, right now he’s NFI, he’s working through a back right now,” Macdonald said. “Long term I think he’s going to be fine, working through it, but Hank’s a vet, he’s a 12-year guy. I mean we’re taking our time with it so we’re not in a hurry.”
No reasons given for Noah Fant’s departure
The Seahawks moving on from starting tight end Noah Fant may not have been a great surprise within the context of his contract, but the timing was a bit peculiar given it was days out from training camp.
“We released him a few days ago,” Macdonald said. “I’m not going to tell you exactly why, there’s multiple reasons.”
As for what this means for the TE room, which includes rookie second-round pick Elijah Arroyo and second-year player A.J. Barner, it’s seemingly business as usual as far as competing.
“I haven’t had any conversations with them,” Macdonald said. “It’s just understood that what we’re trying to achieve as a football team. And we love Noah, we wish him the best, but we also love the guys that are still here. They know what’s at stake and it’s going to be a lot of fun watching that competition at tight end.”
Shaquill Griffin is back, but not for Day 1 of camp
The 2017 Seahawks third-round pick reunited with the team a few weeks ago, but his first Seahawks camp since 2020 will have to wait as he deals with a minor illness. Mike Macdonald said the team is taking a cautious approach as far as his return.
“He’s going to be a guy we’ll lean on being a vet presence for those guys and it’s been fun so far, but excited to get him out there working with the rest of the team,” Macdonald said.
Notes and Quotes
Kenneth Walker III practices, has strong showing
When we last heard about Kenneth Walker III, he was limited with an ankle injury at minicamp. No such restrictions on Day 1 of training camp.
““He looks great,” Macdonald said. “He’s in a great spot, mentally. Just awesome seeing him do all the things that we wanted him to do from the get go. I know he’s really excited about what’s going on. Great first day with Ken.”
Interesting rotations on the offensive line
There’s been a lot of curiosity over the right guard and center competitions. At center, Olu Oluwatimi and Jalen Sundell are top two on the depth chat. Right guard figures to be between Anthony Bradford and Christian Haynes... but then there’s Jalen Sundell! Yes, Sundell received some right guard reps while Haynes had some snaps at center. This was in addition to the usual rotations, but this is an interesting wrinkle.
Expect more experimenting at those positions in the weeks to come.
How far along is the offense under Klint Kubiak?
“Yeah, we’re right on schedule,” said Macdonald of the offense under Seattle’s newest offensive coordinator.
And yes, coach wants to see the ball run well.
“Run off the rock man. We want to play our style of ball. Let the O-line do their thing, get Sam [Darnold] on the move, separate the defense, all those things. It’s fun to watch these guys put it together and how they drill it, go from individual to group, how it fits together, all the rules. It’s really exciting.”
Highlights?
This isn’t to be a buzzkill, but the Seahawks are a fair bit tighter regarding training camp highlights than they used to be, and certainly more so than other teams around the league. But I know your appetite for any Seahawks football is insatiable, so here are come clips!
Some OL video. pic.twitter.com/7jnLZoWYnf
— Bob Condotta (@bcondotta) July 24, 2025
Some DL video. pic.twitter.com/cKB9uUisHN
— Bob Condotta (@bcondotta) July 24, 2025
Crisp day for Sam, actually all the QB’s were sharp. pic.twitter.com/yqLv96oJp7
— Dan Viens (Seahawks Forever Podcast) (@SeahawksForever) July 23, 2025
Elijah Arroyo had a great day. Caught everything thrown his way including a couple diving grabs. Really looks the part. pic.twitter.com/u7o2eh3QNg
— Dan Viens (Seahawks Forever Podcast) (@SeahawksForever) July 23, 2025
Seahawks WR work, led by Cooper Kupp and JSN pic.twitter.com/uSCZbxh3oJ
— Dugar, Michael-Shawn (@MikeDugar) July 23, 2025
The Seahawks practice again on Thursday at 1 pm in what is a media-only session. Fans can catch the next practice on Friday, July 25.
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- Matthew Stafford is going through some stuff
- Boye Mafe limited, Ken Walker does not practice for Seahawks Thursday
- Pete Carroll thinks Seahawks crowd will ‘know exactly what to do’ when Russell Wilson returns
- Field Gulls predicts the 2022 Seahawks season
