Bionic man: Look what Jaxon Smith-Njigba does with the Seahawks days after wrist surgery
Jaxon Smith-Njiba has impressed plenty since entering the NFL this spring.
This might be the rookie wide receiver’s most impressive trick yet.
Well before he was supposed to, the Seahawks’ first-round draft choice was not just on the field but fully practicing and catching passes from Geno Smith on Tuesday. Days earlier, he had surgery to repair a broken bone in his left wrist.
Smith-Njigba wore a beige, cast-looking protective device over his left hand up his forearm to just below the elbow. He juggled and caught one pass over the middle, but otherwise smoothly ran and caught passes away from his body as he has since Seattle selected him 20th overall in the NFL draft in May.
A specialist in Philadelphia performed the surgery in the middle of last week. Doctors told the Seahawks that Smith-Njigba would miss about two weeks of practice following the operation.
He missed two days. One of those was his travel day back from the East Coast.
“It was great to see Jaxon back out there,” Smith said. “He’s a tough kid, man. I think it’s remarkable what he’s doing.
“We love having him out there.”
The 32-year-old veteran of 10 NFL seasons was asked if he advised the 21-year-old rookie that he didn’t have to rush back so quickly. The Seahawks don’t play the season’s first game until Sept. 10.
“He has a plan,” Smith said.
“I trust his plan.”
Smith said he noticed some differences from the Smith-Njigba before the surgery to now, just after it.
“I mean, it’s a little different. He’s got this big little thing on his hand that obviously restricts him a little bit,” Smith said. “But he looks fine to me.
“I’ll love to see how progresses and how things go as the coming weeks go.”
Smith-Njigba returned to Seahawks headquarters Friday, just before his teammates left for their final game of the preseason at Green Bay. Coach Pete Carroll said moments after that game Saturday that Smith-Njigba told him upon his return from the surgery that he will play in Seattle’s opening game. That’s Sept. 10 against the Los Angeles Rams at Lumen Field.
Tuesday was an indication the rookie will be correct.
This story was originally published August 29, 2023 at 4:35 PM.
