D’Wayne Eskridge remaining out has put Aaron Fuller, Cody Thompson into Seahawks’ plans
The only team D’Wayne Eskridge is on right now is Team Bucket Hat.
The Seahawks speedy rookie wide receiver has been stopped, for two months, by an injured big toe he got warming up for a practice months ago. His team has sent him to multiple medical opinions. It’s gotten him a new, specially fitting shoe. Trainers have had him on a special running program for the last week.
“This was the fifth day in a row of him running and conditioning without any problems. That’s a really good sign,” coach Pete Carroll said Tuesday.
That was before Eskridge was out yet again Wednesday.
“We’re trying to make sure—because he has not been able to run in a conditioning manner over the offseason like we would like—we’re trying to make sure he’s in good shape,” Carroll said, “and so once he’s back out here he can sustain. It’s all very positive and he’s going in the right direction.”
Yet instead of cruising on the inside track to being the third wide receiver behind Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf, the 5-foot-9 Eskridge remained in a bucket hat watching the 11th practice of camp. He is the latest in a series of Seahawks top rookie draft choices sidelined right away by injuries: a locally infamous list that includes Malik McDowell, Rashaad Penny, L.J. Collier and Darrell Taylor.
Aaron Fuller and Cody Thompson are taking full advantage of Eskridge’s absence with the starting offense.
Fuller, the former Washington Huskies wide receiver, and Thompson, a 2019 free agent from Toledo, are getting plays with Russell Wilson and the starters. Those reps seem to increase by the day.
Wednesday, Thompson bailed out Wilson from a broken, extended play during a red-zone scrimmage. Thompson ran a late, improvisational route away from linebacker Nate Evans at the goal line. Wilson saw Thompson’s idea. The quarterback threw low ahead of his receiver’s break. Thompson made a tumbling catch into the end zone before Evans reacted fully to his move.
Those are the plays that get Wilson trusting guys with minimal NFL experience.
Fuller has been making those catches for much of the last year, in scrimmages last preseason and while on the practice squad throughout the 2020 season, and on catches from Wilson and backup quarterback Geno Smith this month. Fuller has particularly shown up on third downs in extra-wide-receiver sets. He’s been part of the array of formations and personnel new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron is installing.
“He continues to make plays,” Carroll said of Fuller, who had 117 catches and 10 touchdowns in his final two seasons at UW.
Fuller’s 159 catches for 2,051 yards in four years is seventh-most in Huskies history.
“He’s made some good plays with the ball in his hands,” Carroll said. “And he’s blocked well, too, of note. He’s been an aggressive blocker and has been getting it done. Our guys have to do that in the offense, and he’s already made a statement that you can count on him to do that.”
Will Dissly also has noticed. The Seahawks tight end and Fuller’s former teammate at UW got more excited talking about Fuller than about going to 49ers star George Kittle’s Tight End University in Nashville, Tennessee, in June or what he’s learning in the new Seahawks offense.
“I’m so happy for Fuller just getting the opportunity to be in Seattle. I love having all the Dawgs on our team,” Dissly said. “He just keeps making plays. It’s unbelievable to see this guy.
“He works tremendously hard. He’s a true professional; he’s in this building, studying, does all the right things. And, I mean, it shows up. We go 2-minute (offense), he makes three or four catches, we go down and score a touchdown.
“He’s a competitor. He’s makes a lot of tough catches that you wouldn’t expect. He’s going to be a great receiver for us, and in this league for a long time.”
Fuller and Thompson get a huge chance to push for a roster spot Saturday. They will be on the field far more than Lockett and Metcalf will when the Seahawks play the Raiders in Las Vegas in the first of three preseason games.
It will be the first NFL preseason games for Fuller.
Fuller signed with Seattle as an undrafted rookie in 2020—when the pandemic led the NFL to cancel all preseason games.
Thompson played four preseason games for Kansas City in the summer of 2019, after the Chiefs signed him as a rookie free agent.
“There are a lot bubble guys who are going looking to put stuff on tape,” said Dissly, whose clutch receptions from Wilson and gutty rebounds from major injuries the previous two years make him a roster lock with Gerald Everett as Seattle’s top two tight ends.
“That’s the beauty of this culture. You just go out there and compete and be your best. ...It’s a big, big opportunity, because there wasn’t preseason last year, for not just the rookies but year-two bubble guys to go make an impact and try to find their foot in the NFL.”
Status quo for Brown, Adams
All-Pro safety Jamal Adams and Pro Bowl veteran left guard Duane Brown again came onto the field during team scrimmaging later in practice. They again wore sneakers not spikes, gray team caps and not helmets and hoodies under their practice jerseys.
They watched and did not practice for the 11th straight workout day.
The Wilson Restructure Matter
As for Wilson telling the team he’d be willing to restructure his $32 million salary-cap charge due this year to get Adams and Brown re-signed beyond 2021: the Seahawks have been talking to Wilson since March about possibly doing that.
The team doesn’t need Wilson’s blessing or initiative to restructure his deal that has three years remaining, per provisions of his $140 million contract, a league source confirmed to The News Tribune in May.
The Seahawks could convert up to $17.9 million of Wilson’s $19 million base pay for 2021 into bonus money. By NFL rules, they could then spread that new bonus money over the three years remaining on Wilson’s deal. That would save up to $11.95 million against the cap this year.
Seattle began the week with $8.2 million in cap space, per overthecap.com. The team will need roughly half of that to pay the practice squad, injured-list players and other contingencies during the regular season.
One reason the Seahawks haven’t yet restructured Wilson’s deal for 2021: they don’t want hefty, unplanned costs added to 2022 and ‘23. Pro Bowl safety Quandre Diggs’ contract paying him $5.95 million in 2021 ends after this season. Metcalf’s, lead running back Chris Carson’s and All-Pro Bobby Wagner’s deals end after the 2022 season. Wilson’s ends after the 2023 seasons.
So it’s not as easy as Wilson giving back some cap space and—viola!—the Seahawks getting Adams and Brown new deals. Those contracts won’t be done in a vacuum. They will be done in accordance to how the team is planning to proceed with Wagner, Diggs, Metcalf, Carson and Wilson, among many others.
That—and not the idea Wilson restructuring makes him harder to trade next year—is more why the Seahawks haven’t done it yet, if they will or need to, at all.
Also from the 11th practice of camp...
*Veteran Pierre Desir, re-signed back to the team this offseason, was the starting left cornerback on what appeared to be a rest day for Ahkello Witherspoon.
*Witherspoon said Carroll has challenged him to strip the ball from receivers after the catch this season. The cornerback said that’s a skill that’s overlooked in the NFL.
“In this league, they’re so good at running and catching, but the play is not over when they do receive the football,” Witherspoon said. “You always have an opportunity to punch it out.
“So that’s one thing I’ve been very mindful of this campm and I’m excited to see that come into play come Sunday(s).”
*Tre Flowers continued to be the first right cornerback, as D.J. Reed missed another day with an injured groin. On the third play of team scrimmaging, Flowers effectively derailed Metcalf from his route and broke up Wilson’s long pass. That was the third time in the last week Flowers has had a showy stop of Metcalf and a Wilson pass.
*The starting offensive line Wednesday: rookie Stone Forsythe again at left tackle with Brown watching and Jamarco Jones and Cedric Ogbuehi still out injured; Jordan Simmons at left guard, with Damien Lewis doing individual drills but not team following his rest day Tuesday; Kyle Fuller again at center and on track to start the opener there; Gabe Jackson returning from a rest day to play right guard; and Brandon Shell at right tackle.
*Phil Haynes alternated in some with Jackson at right guard.
*It appeared coaches are ramping up practice reps for guys who are likely to play the majority of Saturday night’s game.
During running-back drills, coach Chad Morton had rookie free agent Josh Johnson and first-year free agent Cameron Scarlett running through bags while getting bumped with blocking pads. Carson and all other running backs just watched.
Expect to see a lot of Johnson and Scarlett running the ball in Las Vegas.
*With Ethan Pocic (hamstring) still out plus tackle depth thinned, listed guard and possible center Pier-Olivier Lestage came off the non-football-injury list—and did position drills with the tackles.
*Reserve Brad Lundblade, a fourth-year NFL veteran listed as a center, practiced with the tackles.
*Next: another practice Thursday afternoon. The players will have a walk-through workout Friday afternoon before a late-afternoon team flight to Nevada.
