Takeaways From Seattle Seahawks Second Joint Practice at Tennessee Titans

Devon Witherspoon made his presence between the lines in more ways than one at the Seahawks second joint practice, while a guard battle may be back on the menu.

Seattle Seahawks cornerback Michael Jackson (30) guards Tennessee Titans wide receiver Mason Kinsey (12) at Ascension Saint Thomas Sports Park in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. This is the second day of the Titans joint practice with the Seattle Seahawks. / Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK

With temperatures rising on a humid morning in Nashville, the Seattle Seahawks wrapped up a productive two days of joint practices on Thursday with another competitive, high-energy session at Ascension Saint Thomas Sports Park.

Speaking with reporters afterward, Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said both teams wanted to switch things up some in regard to situational football from Wednesday, placing more emphasis on red zone and two-minute drill work during team scrimmage periods in the second padded practice.

"That was the idea. On both sides of the ball, special teams-wise, and then yesterday was more of an early down day with some third down stuff," Macdonald explained. "Today we did another early down type period and then more red zone and then we finished there with the two-minute (drill). Good competitive practice and good situational work at the same time."

With joint practices now in the books leading up to Saturday's second preseason game, here are four quick takeaways from Seattle's second session in Tennessee:

1. The competition at right guard may be back on the preseason menu after all.

Before training camp opened on July 24, most experts anticipated the Seahawks would have an open competition at right guard between incumbent Anthony Bradford, rookie Christian Haynes, and second-year blocker McClendon Curtis. But with Abraham Lucas still on the PUP list, Curtis has been exclusively at right tackle rotating behind George Fant, while Bradford has received all of the first-team reps at right guard with Haynes working with the second unit, making the battle look like anything but a competition.

However, Haynes has been gaining momentum over the past week and change, including turning in an impressive NFL debut in Saturday's preseason win over the Chargers where he allowed one pressure on 20 pass blocking reps and stood out in the run game. Feeling he earned the opportunity to show what he can do, the Seahawks slid him into the starting lineup for Thursday's practice with Bradford relegated to the twos, though Macdonald tried to downplay the switch up.

"Like I always said from the beginning, it's a competition," Macdonald said bluntly. "I wanted to see what Christian could do with the ones."

Continuing his recent ascent, Haynes dominated during 1-on-1s on Thursday, driving his defender to the ground on both reps. Per Gregg Bell of the Tacoma News Tribune, he continued to shove Tennessee defensive tackle Quinton Bohanna in the back when he was already on the ground, leading to some post-play jawing between the two players. Luckily, it didn't escalate into a fight.

While it may seem late in the process for a competition to break out, Haynes has always been in the rear view mirror closing in on Bradford, and Seattle clearly wants to see what he brings to the table in the next few weeks. Expect both players to see plenty of action in Saturday's preseason game with a chance to improve their standing as they view for the right guard job for Week 1.

2. The Titans will be happy see DK Metcalf and Riq Woolen board an airplane and head out of town.

Two of the best athletes in the NFL and former Pro Bowlers at their respective positions, Metcalf and Woolen should be expected to do well in joint practices against other teams. Still, Tennessee has to be breathing a sigh of relief that it won't have to deal with either one of them after the two stars dominated throughout the pair of joint practices.

Picking up where he left off on Wednesday, albeit with the Titans being without their top two cornerbacks, Metcalf proved to be a near-unstoppable force during the 1-on-1 period, putting defenders in a spin cycle as they tried to deal with his size and elite speed. Once the team scrimmage session opened, he wasted little time torching the opposition, as quarterback Geno Smith connected with him on a deep ball on the first play.

As for Woolen, he continued to hold his own against standout Titans receiver Calvin Ridley, creating a pass breakup during 1-on-1s before recording an interception against Will Levis during the 7-on-7 red zone period. Looking for his defense to cut down on mistakes compared to Wednesday, Macdonald was pleased with what he saw, particularly when it came to creating turnovers and forcing stops in red zone work with Woolen in the starring role.

"We had a good meeting yesterday; guys came out focused so it felt like we addressed most of those things. Again look, can't really tell, but we're making plays on the football which is really nice. Guys seem like we were on top of things in the red zone, which things move faster there especially against a new offense, new schemes, things you haven't seen. That was encouraging."

3. The spirit of Seattle's defense, Devon Witherspoon leads the way in a competitive, trash talk-filled session.

While Woolen may have been the MVP of joint practices, if there is such a thing, he wasn't alone coming through with big plays in Seattle's secondary over the past two days. After getting beat a couple of times in 1-on-1s on Wednesday, Witherspoon came out with a vengeance in Thursday's session, firing up the chatter box as well as bringing his ball hawking skills to the field.

Engaged in playful trash talking banter throughout practice with former teammates Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams, who both signed with the Titans after being cut by the Seahawks in March, Witherspoon may have gotten the last laugh. After Adams told him he "better get ready because San Fran is gonna have that a**," the former top-five pick intercepted Levis while defending a wheel route and sprinted down the sideline to give the ball to Adams, waiving at the Titans sideline as he continued running to celebrate in the end zone.

"Well that's Spoon," Macdonald laughed. "I know we do the joking thing back and forth, but we love him. He's a great player and we expect great things out of him. For him to make plays on the ball like he did today, that's what our team needs (and we're happy for him). He's working his tail off, he's very detail oriented, he does not make the same mistake twice. He's doing a great job. I'm happy for him to have some production on the ball, and it helps our team too which is nice."

"Jamal, that's my boy, that's my dawg, so we can talk trash to each other and it's nothing but love. So, that's why me and him do that all the time," Witherspoon added.

As all three players acknowledged after practice, the back-and-forth jeering between Witherspoon, Adams, and Diggs was friendly by nature, as they were simply having a good time competing against one another in a reunion of sorts. Looking beyond the trash talk fest, Seattle's rising star continued to leave his mark as one of the emerging leaders of Macdonald's defense, another sign he could be heading towards a breakout sophomore year.

4. A potentially significant injury clouds an otherwise great pair of practices.

If there's a goal both teams in a joint practice universally share, they hope to escape without any significant injuries. Unfortunately for the Seahawks, however, they will be returning to the Pacific Northwest this weekend with veteran tight end Pharaoh Brown's status in question.

On the receiving end of a hit from cornerback Roger McCreary, Brown clutched at his knee as he laid on the ground, and he eventually left the field on a cart. Interestingly, Macdonald told reporters that the tight end had a foot injury after practice, offering no other specifics at that time.

"That's about all we know at this point," Macdonald said.

Depending on the severity of Brown's injury, the Seahawks may have a tough choice awaiting in regard to whether or not he will be placed on injured reserve before the upcoming August 27 cut day. If he misses any extended amount of time, fourth-round pick AJ Barner should be the beneficiary with more snaps as a traditional Y-tight end, while Brady Russell would also stand to gain from his absence.

In other injury news, running back Zach Charbonnet (back) and defensive tackle Dre'Mont Jones (hamstring) didn't practice on Thursday. Macdonald doesn't think Charbonnet's situation is "major," while he didn't have anything to update on Jones after he exited Wednesday's practice, making them each day-to-day at this stage for Seattle.