Seahawks preseason finale: C.J. Prosise, again; Geno Smith should backup Russell Wilson
The preseason finale is useless?
Don’t tell that to Geno Smith, C.J. Prosise and Ben Burr-Kirven.
Those Seahawks needed to make final impressions on coaches in Thursday’s last preseason game against the Oakland Raiders before Saturday. That’s when the team must cut its roster from 90 to 53 players for the start of the regular season next week.
Needs fulfilled in Seattle’s 17-15 win Thursday night in an exhibition entirely of reserves at rainy CenturyLink Field.
Oakland scored a touchdown with 1:47 remaining. But after a false-start on the ensuing two-point play to tie, Seahawks defensive end Branden Jackson sacked Raiders quarterback Nathan Peterman to preserve Seattle’s victory.
I thanked Jackson, on behalf of us all, for sparing us overtime in an especially interminable preseason finale.
He laughed.
“You’re welcome,” said the good-natured Jackson, who reminded his Seahawks he can be one of the effective pass rushers they truly need this season.
His was the last defensive play in the last game before Seahawks games get real Sept. 8 against Cincinnati.
“I think we are going to have a really good team. And I don’t care about saying that,” Carroll said.
“We are going to be hard to beat, particularly if we can continue to run the ball.
“We’ve got the right guys.”
While it was meaningless for starters—none played—Thursday’s game determined a couple roster spots.
Running plays idling-again Russell Wilson was calling because the starting quarterback was on what is usually coordinator Brian Schottenheimer’s headset into Smith’s helmet, Smith was brilliantly accurate passing in the first half. In doing so, he showed he and not Paxton Smith should be Wilson’s backup for Seattle this season.
Smith threw a perfectly placed touchdown pass to undrafted rookie Terry Wright, an exquisite loft, to end Seattle’ first drive.
Smith did a comical, barrell-roll celebration at the feet of his offensive linemen up the field to celebrate his first first in a game since he signed this spring with Seattle.
His second scoring pass, to Jacob Hollister, was a dart onto the tight end’s chest between two Raiders in the end zone in the second quarter.
But the throw that will have Seahawks coaches thinking that Smith is the better option if they have to go without Wilson starting a game for the first time in his eight-year career wasn’t for a score. It was from guts.
The former New York Jets and Giants starter stood in the pocket like a pro while seeing Oakland’s 287-pound defensive tackle Ethan Westbrooks charging at his chest unblocked. Smith threw the ball as Westbrooks was planting him back-first into the wet turf. The ball soared onto the hands of leaping Jazz Ferguson, with the undrafted, 6-foot-5 rookie just too big for 5-10 Nevin Lawson—and every other cornerback in the NFL.
That’s why Ferguson seems likely to make the team Saturday, to fulfill coach Pete Carroll’s stated goal of getting bigger at wide receiver for deep balls like that one.
Smith’s gutty play gained 41 yards and set up his 11-yard bullet ball to Hollister three plays later. That increased Seattle’s lead to 14-3.
“Russ is a great play caller, actually. I was impressed,” Smith said. He dialed up what we talked about earlier. He said he was going to dial up a few things and he was right on cue. We went out there and we executed. So we made him look good tonight.”
Wilson looked good. As usual. Even though he didn’t play.
“That was pretty cool,” Smith said.
Smith was 4 for 7 passing for 107 yards, two touchdowns and a sterling 141.4 passer rating before he left grabbing his left knee in the second quarter. That was after reserve guard Jordan Roos pushed a Raider pass rusher into Smith for a sack.
Smith had a cyst removed from that same knee this month and missed the second preseason game because of it.
Lynch entered on the next play. The big guy had to move his feet from pressure then spiked a short pass into the ground. That’s been a constant in practices in games this summer; when the 6-6 Lynch has to move his feet his passes are glaringly errant. Smith is far more accurate on the move. And with Seattle’s offensive line still with issues in consistent pass protection, throwing on the run is a must.
Carroll said Smith’s injury kept him from coming back in, and that he’s going to get it checked out in the coming days. Smith said he feared a worse injury when it first happened, that it scared him.
“Feels fine right now,” Smith said late Thursday. “Really scary incident there. I got rolled up on. I just had to take a second there. Hopefully, everything is all good. We may have to take an MRI.
“We’ll see.”
Smith completed 18 of 34 passes this preseason for 282 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions, five sacks behind a porous backup offensive line and on a pained knee. He had a passer rating of 97.92. A rating of 158.3 is perfect.
“He looks really in control of the offense,” Carroll said. “He gets it.”
Lynch was 1 for 7 for 4 yards with a 10-yard sack Thursday.
For the preseason, he was 18 for 37, 176 yards with one touchdown passing, one rushing and a passer rating of 71.9.
Asked if he feels he’s shown the Seahawks enough to be Wilson’s backup this season, Smith raised the questioner a better one.
“My job is to go out and show people I can be a starter in this league,” Smith said. “Obviously, I have to assume my role here. But my job is to continue to show people who I am as a player. I was drafted into this league for a reason. I still have that same skill set. I’m 28, entering my prime. I’ve worked extremely hard.
“I just got out there and play ball, and let the rest handle itself.”
I’ve watched all but two of their Seahawks practices since May. No way Lynch has performed better than Smith in the totality of spring, summer and preseason games. Smith, to me, is Wilson’s backup.
But let’s be honest: If the backup quarterback matters this coming season, the Seahawks are not going anywhere. Wilson has yet to miss a practice, let alone a game, in his seven NFL seasons for Seattle.
PROSISE DOES IT AGAIN: Prosise has had a personal niche carved into the Seahawks’ playbook for three years, after he showed his slashing running and unique pass-catching in the New England and Philadelphia games his rookie season of 2016.
He just hasn’t been able to stay on the field.
He did Thursday, for the second time in five days.
The running back who has had 10 injuries in three-plus years since Seattle drafted him shined in a game for the second time in five days. Prosise had 42 yards on five carries. He pulled a video game-like spin move off a hit by a Raider in the open field to create a 30-yard run and get the Seahawks off their goal line in the second quarter.
In the last two preseason games, he has 10 carries for 74 yards, plus a 15-yard reception last weekend in which he gained all the yards after the catch on his own with no blocking and while running past four Chargers.
Best for Seattle: Prosise finished his second consecutive game without an injury.
“I don’t give up on guys easily,” Carroll said last weekend after Prosise shined at the Los Angeles Chargers.
Thursday night, Carroll said: “I thought he did really well. I thought he looked good. He looked explosive. I mean, all the things we’ve always known about him. He just hasn’t been available.
“So when he had two weeks to be available, he showed, again, what he’s made of. And I thought it was a really good showing for him. He did everything he could.”
To make the team?
It would be odd and counter to Carroll’s 3 1/2 years of faith in Prosise to cut the former Notre Dame wide receiver as his third-down running back now.
THE MYSTERY OF SHAQUEM GRIFFIN: Shaquem Griffin completed the preseason without doing the role coaches want for him this season: rush linebacker off the edge, like he was starring at the University of Central Florida. Injuries at linebacker in August forced Griffin back into the role in which he failed as a rookie in 2018: off-the-ball, weakside linebacker.
Griffin was again a standout on special teams, and that is his current value to the Seahawks. Last year’s inspiration as the first one-handed player drafted into the modern NFL sprinted down the middle of the field on the opening kickoff and leveled the first Raider to cross his face, knocking him back 5 yards onto the 20-yard line. Then he made a sure, open-field tackle to drop Raiders returner De’Mornay Pierson-El on a 64-yard punt by All-Pro Michael Dickson.
But he did not play a down on defense Thursday. He was standing on the sideline, holding his helmet when the Raiders had the ball.
Griffin had ice on the knee on the sideline late in the game. He had a bruised knee earlier this month.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Carroll said. “It has persisted some, so we’ll see. I think we’re going to get him checked out again, tested again, MRI him again, just to make sure we know what’s going on. It’s been a little bit different than a normal injury. He got hit on it. We thought bruised early on, but it just hasn’t gotten well fast enough for us.”
Griffin is an interesting case for Saturday’s roster cuts. Injured reserve is not out of the question.
BURR-KIRVEN EMERGES: He’s been mostly quiet this preseason, particularly compared to fellow rookie draft pick Cody Barton at linebacker. A sports-hernia surgery this spring slowed Burr-Kirven well into the summer.
But the former Washington Huskies’ linebacker made his last preseason impression his best one.
Burr-Kirven was called for a debatable roughing-the-passer foul while beginning his clean hit on Raiders quarterback Nathan Peterman before he started his throw. Burr-Kirven was called for his entire body weight landing on the QB on the ground. It’s the most hated part of new roughing-the-passer rules the NFL enacted last year. It was impossible there for Burr-Kirven to roll off or not land totally on the passer. Put it this way: Burr-Kirven would not have been called for that foul last season at UW.
The Seahawks’ sideline, in particularly Carroll, stayed mad at officials for that call for about 10 minutes after it.
Forget the penalty. Coaches will love Burr-Kirven’s night at outside linebacker. He was all over the field, and rarely blocked. He had 12 tackles (nine solo), one sack, one QB hit, two tackles for losses, one pass defensed. Seahawks coaches will be thrilled with his progress from July through August.
“It’s really important for him,” Carroll said. “He’s trying to make the club. He was really kind of bogged down early in his return...but tonight it looked like he was back, full speed. He was flying tonight.”
REGULAR-SEASON PRICES FOR THIS?: This fourth and final exhibition game was a clear example of why the NFL preseason is at least one and likely two games too long.
Oakland dressed just 46 players, of its 90-man preseason roster. The Raiders kept 40 players, most of the guys who are actually going to play this season, at home.
Seahawks general manager John Schneider said on his team’s radio pregame show to KIRO AM there were going to be “31 guys we are going to take care of tonight.” No Seahawks starters for this regular season started Thursday.
Seventh-year veteran Jamar Taylor, the likely winner of the nickel-back job after a standout training camp, entered as the fifth defensive back on the second play.
BLAIR HURT AGAIN: Rookie safety Marquise Blair’s push to be a starting safety with Bradley McDougald is on hold again. He’s hurt—again.
The second-round draft choice who debuted so impressively Aug. 8 against Denver started Thursday at free safety, with Lano Hill at strong safety. But Blair left in the first half with a back injury. He missed weeks this month with a bruised back, leaving coaches without a conclusive read on his progress in the defense.
So it appears the season will begin with McDougald at strong safety and Tedric Thompson at free safety. Don’t be surprised if that changes during the season.
FOURTH-ROUND PICK ENDANGERS HIMSELF: Gary Jennings is playing himself off the roster. As a rookie fourth-round pick (120th overall).
He had a second dumb personal foul in five days. He ran with his head down and smacked a Raiders returner way before a Michael Dickson punt arrived in the fourth quarter. Last weekend at the Chargers he made an obvious, needless blindside block after Wilson ran past him for a 15-yard scramble.
“He was just a hair early,” Carroll said. “Just didn’t quite hit it right.”
Jennings has shown nothing this summer as a wide receiver on offense, after a hamstring injury June well into July. So he needed to show on special teams—and not by showing the penalty.
Jennings would be the highest draft pick to not make the team under Carroll since wide receiver Chris Harper, Seattle’s fourth-round pick (123rd overall) in 2013.
“He had those two, glaring plays,” Carroll said.
“We’ve seen him in practice, and he’s done a nice job. He’s competing like crazy, just like the other guys.”
NEXT UP: The Seahawks have to cut the roster from 90 to 53 players by 1 p.m. Saturday. They return to the practice field Monday, the first day of the regular season.
Defensive tackle Jarran Reed, last season’s 10 1/2-sack man suspended by the NFL for the first six games following his alleged domestic-violence incident, cannot practice with the team beginning Monday.
This story was originally published August 29, 2019 at 10:08 PM.
