Field Gulls
This has absolutely zippo to do with any impressive practice plays and everything to do with health.
Seattle Seahawks OTAs got underway this week. To get yourself hyped up that the Super Bowl is inevitable, here are clips of Sam Darnold throwing to A.J. Barner and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
While I’d love to reel everyone in with team-issued highlights all the time, I won’t indulge in the over-analyzing of May practices. Unless there’s news of an injury or a truly spectacular moment, I think we’ll keep the eyeball emojis to a minimum until training camp.
There are, however, two players whose presence at OTAs are notable for similar but nevertheless noteworthy reasons.
Fifth-round rookie wide receiver Tory Horton suffered a season-ending knee injury last year, which most likely dropped his draft stock by at least a full round. At the first OTA practice, Horton appeared to be participating in drills, which is a major upgrade from rookie minicamp in terms of on-field participation.
We don’t have video but the team-issued photos (we can’t use them, full disclosure) should suffice as evidence that Horton has been getting some work in on the practice field. That’s not going to be the case for Notre Dame rookie and fellow fifth-rounder Rylie Mills, whose January ACL tear in the College Football Playoff makes it unlikely he’ll be playing until later in the season.
Now let’s get to the other OTA inclusion of consequence! Fourth-year right tackle Abe Lucas was out of commission for much of 2024 due to a knee tendon issue that required surgery. When Lucas did return last November, he was on a snap count restriction of sorts in his first game back but otherwise was all systems go up until sitting out Week 18 with an abdomen injury.
If watching selective highlights from OTAs isn’t your thing, maybe Lucas’ physique will pique your interest.
Lucas is entering the final year of his rookie contract and may be one of the most important players to watch this season. He missed massive chunks of each of the past two seasons to the point of worry among the fanbase. If Lucas can have a proper offseason and stay healthy, that may be a major boost to Seattle’s offensive line.
The Seahawks’ second week of OTAs starts on June 2 and ends on June 12. Three of those six sessions within those dates will be available to the media, so you’ll get more droplets of information in due time. Until then, at least be encouraged that two players who’ve dealt with injuries recently are on the field and doing drill work.
