Takeaways From Seattle Seahawks First Joint Practice at Tennessee Titans

Taking their training camp show to the Music City, some of the Seahawks biggest stars shined in their first joint practice against the Titans on Wednesday.

Tennessee Titans wide receiver Calvin Ridley (0) runs after a catch against Seattle Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen (27) at Ascension Saint Thomas Sports Park in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Aug. 14 2024. This is the first day of the Titans joint practice with the Seattle Seahawks. / Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK

Hitting the road for joint practices with another NFL team for the first time since way back in 1991, the Seattle Seahawks sparred with the Tennessee Titans in Nashville for the first of two practices in their latest step towards the start of the regular season.

Familiar with joint practices from his time as a defensive coordinator and assistant coach with the Ravens, Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald unsurprisingly spent the majority of Wednesday's session watching his first team defense go against the Titans starting offense on one of the two scrimmage fields. Though things got chippy in a few instances, he felt his team did a quality job of avoiding post-whistle extracurriculars and he's eager to see how the practice looked on film.

"It was great work, working with these guys," Macdonald said afterword. "[Tennessee's] coaching staff was great, setting the whole thing up; the organization I thought was solid. The guys were ready to practice. It's 8 a.m. our time; I felt the mentality was right. I can't wait to watch the tape. I just told the team, you get to jawing and things, and some extra stuff; for the most part, we were responsible, and I thought we did a good job, but I just want the guys to know what shows up on tape is who we are. So, let's make sure we're doing the right things between the lines when we watch it and we'll go from there, but exciting time.”

After wrapping up the first of two practices this week before Saturday's exhibition game, here are four takeaways from Seattle's first session at Saint Thomas Sports Park:

1. While playing a balancing act scheme-wise, it was a mixed bag for Mike Macdonald's defense.

Among the several benefits of joint practices, unlike preseason games where every team gets access to All-22 film afterward for their coaching staffs and scouting departments to comb through, scrimmage sessions aren't filmed for league or public consumption. This opens the door for coaches such as Macdonald and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb to have a bit more flexibility in regard to what types of plays and concepts they are able to run in a closed environment without having to worry about an upcoming opponent getting ahold of the practice film.

As for how much of the playbook the Seahawks plan to use this week, Macdonald didn't dive into specifics, but made it clear the team has more liberty to work on some of their favorite concepts than they would in Saturday's exhibition game in Nashville.

"I think significantly more than you'd be comfortable putting out to everybody," Macdonald said. "Some of the things you're showing, it's a balance of like, 'Hey, this is our best stuff right now, let's see how it looks.' It's just some stuff we want to, not experiment with, but let's see how it looks; that we really might not have as many reps as we want against someone that we're not used to how their motioning, and shifting, and the plays that they're running, so just kind of see how it works, so a combination.”

Spending all of practice zeroed in on Seattle's defensive units, Macdonald enjoyed much of what he saw, particularly from the first-team group going against Tennessee's starters. As should be expected at this stage of camp, however, while he felt the front seven did a quality job of slowing down the Titans' run game on Wednesday afternoon, there were still far too many big plays allowed in the passing game for his liking, leaving plenty to work on going into Thursday's practice.

"It felt like we played the run pretty well up front. There's some things that we’ve got play better on in some schemes, on the edge and second level. It's tough to tell what's happening inside in real time, but it felt like the guys played the box pretty well, and we circled the ball. And there's a couple explosives that we're going to want to look and see, in the pass game that we got to fix."

2. "Iron sharpening iron" pays dividends for DK Metcalf, Riq Woolen against a banged up Tennessee secondary.

Throughout camp, Metcalf and Woolen have engaged in a spirited back-and-forth duel battling against each other in 1-on-1 periods as well as team sessions, bringing out the best of one another in a matchup pairing two of the best size/speed athletes in the entire NFL. Or at least between the snap and the whistle, as the two have had to be separated a few times with emotions running high between two of the most competitive players on Seattle's roster.

Not having to worry about going against each other for several days, Metcalf and Woolen benefited immensely from those heated reps in training camp facing another opponent on the practice field.

Even without starters Chidobe Awuzie and L'Jarius Sneed practicing for Tennesee, Metcalf enjoyed a strong session, including being ruled down at the one-yard line on the final drive of practice on a play many reporters believed would have been overturned for a touchdown in a game situation. Both he and Jaxon Smith-Njigba made several catches, standing out with fellow veteran Tyler Lockett still limited due to a leg injury, and quarterback Geno Smith loved how Metcalf finished off an important situational drive, even if it wasn't universally counted as a touchdown.

"We got to get those in. Not playing in preseason obviously you want to get those drives in. You want to feel what it's like to go through a 10, 12, 14 play drive," Smith explained. "As you can see, once you get down there in the red zone, guys are going to be a little tired, but you got to finish. You want to see what that feels like and so it was great to have that opportunity out here on the field."

As for Woolen, the third-year cornerback continued a fantastic training camp with some exciting reps working against Titans star receiver Calvin Ridley. Though the two players each one their share of battles in the 1-on-1 period, Woolen recorded a pass breakup and also had an impressive rep where he stuck to Ridley and prevented the quarterback from even attempting a pass on a comeback route, drawing praise from legend Richard Sherman on social media.

Previously limited to playing on the right side, Woolen has excelled while moving back and forth between both boundary positions in Macdonald's defense, surprising his new coach with his versatility. Now, he just has to keep stacking days leading up to Week 1.

"I didn't know that when we showed up," Macdonald said of Woolen. "So things that can change, we're just like 'Hey man, everybody plays both sides' but I think Tariq had some great plays today man. We're excited for him, but we haven't played a game yet. So, my challenge to him is 'How good can you get in the next two, three weeks before we play a game?'"

3. One contender continues to create separation in the third down running back race.

With almost a month still until the season opener and two exhibition games left until cut down day, the Seahawks don't have to declare a winner in their third down running back race anytime soon. But if actions speak louder than words for Macdonald, Grubb, and the rest of the coaching staff, one of the competitors for that role looks to be creating a bit of separation.

Since Macdonald wasn't watching the first-team offense on Wednesday, he didn't get a chance to see what undrafted rookie George Holani did while receiving reps out of the backfield with the starters. But coming off an impressive preseason debut, he held up well in pass protection once again and made a couple of nice runs between the tackles, continuing to build his case for not only a roster spot, but potentially a role alongside Ken Walker III and Zach Charbonnet.

"Running the ball, blocking, all those. Shoot, you name it, that's three [of] about the top four things you want from your backs, so I can't wait to see it. Those are the things we expect from our guys," Macdonald said, acknowledging he will have to wait until film review to assess Holani's play.

At this stage, second-year back Kenny McIntosh may very well still have a spot on Seattle's roster, as the team could keep four running backs due to the injury attrition at the position and the fact both he and Holani excel on special teams. But the fact Holani looks to be getting reps with the first-team offense now before him suggests the coaching staff is leaning towards the rookie right now with their open third down vacancy.

4. The Byron Murphy II hype train keeps picking up speed, even if Macdonald wants to play coy.

Throughout his first training camp as an NFL head coach, Macdonald has tried to keep compliments for young players to a minimum, and that has especially been evident with Murphy. Seemingly every time he has been asked about Seattle's first round pick, while he has praised him for bringing the traits they expected him to when they drafted him, he has leaned back on the idea that the rookie hasn't done anything yet and has much to learn.

But each passing day, Macdonald has to be having a tougher time not gushing about Murphy, who has been on a meteoric rise since the pads came on in late July. Just ask the Chargers, who had to deal with his power, quickness, and array of counter moves as he disrupted their offense from the outset in Saturday's preseason opening win. Or the Titans, who couldn't block him in 1-on-1s on Wednesday thanks to his explosive first step, bullying bull rush, and lightning quick swim move, finding numerous ways to dominate.

When asked if he finds it difficult to temper his enthusiasm about Murphy since he's a rookie, Macdonald smiled and replied, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Of course, Murphy will have to prove himself all over again when the regular season opens on September 8 when he's working against NFL starters every snap, and Macdonald will continue to remind him of that internally and publicly to keep the young star grounded. But if the past few weeks have been any indication, assuming his disruptive tendencies carry over to when the real bullets start flying at Lumen Field, it's going to be pretty darn difficult for the coach to practice modesty when discussing the player's immense talent.