Trouble Brewing at Tight End For Banged Up Seattle Seahawks

With two veterans and an undrafted rookie sidelined, the Seahawks have some significant questions at tight end with the regular season just around the corner.

Corbin K. Smith | Aug 19, 2024

Seahawks tight end Pharaoh Brown listens to instructions during a drill in Thursday's OTA session at the VMAC. / Corbin Smith/All Seahawks

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Seattle Seahawks

With tight ends dropping like flies over the past couple weeks during training camp and the first two preseason games, the Seattle Seahawks brought in depth reinforcements on Monday leading up to their exhibition finale, casting questions about the position moving forward.

Nursing a lower body injury, starter Noah Fant has mostly sat out practice the past two weeks and obviously didn't suit up for either preseason game. Meanwhile, veteran Pharaoh Brown, who the Seahawks signed as a free agent in March, suffered a foot injury in the final joint practice against the Titans last Thursday and while he's hopeful to return by the start of the regular season, the fact he needed a second opinion on the injury isn't encouraging.

In addition, undrafted rookie Jack Westover missed Saturday's preseason game with a hamstring injury, though coach Mike Macdonald didn't disclose the severity of the strain or how much time he may end up missing.

With Fant, Brown, and Westover all sidelined for the time being, Seattle had only three healthy tight ends - Brady Russell, Tyler Mabry, and rookie AJ Barner - available for the practice week leading up to Saturday's home preseason tilt against Cleveland. Desperate for bodies, the team worked out five tight ends on Sunday, eventually signing former UCLA standout Michael Ezeike and Pittsburg State undrafted rookie Devon Garrison as insurance reinforcements.

In the wake of the injury and roster news, Locked On Seahawks hosts Corbin Smith and Rob Rang discuss the latest update on Brown via the player's Instagram account and the addition of two former undrafted rookie tight ends, dish out their first "Monday Musings" of the year revisiting Seattle's 16-15 loss to Tennessee in Nashville on Saturday night, including stellar line play with the first unit, and share their latest updates to their 53-man roster projections.

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Published Aug 19, 2024

CORBIN K. SMITH

Graduating from Manchester College in 2012, Smith began his professional career as a high school Economics teacher in Indianapolis and launched his own NFL website covering the Seahawks as a hobby. After teaching and coaching high school football for five years, he transitioned to a full-time sports reporter in 2017, writing for USA Today's Seahawks Wire while continuing to produce the Legion of 12 podcast. He joined the Arena Group in August 2018 and also currently hosts the daily Locked On Seahawks podcast with Rob Rang and Nick Lee. Away from his coverage of the Seahawks and the NFL, Smith dabbles in standup comedy, is a heavy metal enthusiast and previously performed as lead vocalist for a metal band, and enjoys distance running and weight lifting. A habitual commuter, he resides with his wife Natalia in Colorado and spends extensive time reporting from his second residence in the Pacific Northwest.