Seahawks don’t know if Smith-Njigba will be ready for opener

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, August 23, 2023

By Gregg Bell / The News Tribune

RENTON — He’d yet to have his surgery.

But the race is already on to get Jaxon Smith-Njigba back in time for the Seattle Seahawks’ opener.

Coach Pete Carroll said Tuesday afternoon his rookie first-round draft choice and wide receiver had traveled to Philadelphia to see a hand specialist there, but not yet had his surgery for a broken bone in his wrist.

Asked when the surgery will be, Carroll shrugged and said “it’s coming, as soon as they can get it. I’m sure it wouldn’t be more than (Wednesday).”

The Seahawks don’t expect as much as hope the prognosis after his operation to be Smith-Njigba will perhaps three or four weeks. That would make his return close to if not right after Seattle’s opening game Sept. 10 against the Los Angeles Rams.

“He’s got a slight fracture that we want to make sure that we do the right thing to ensure that he gets back as soon as possible, and as safe as possible,” Carroll said of the smooth 20th pick in this year’s draft from Ohio State. “We are going to be optimistic about it. Three or four weeks, we’ll see what happens. We don’t know yet.”

Asked if the team believes Smith-Njigba can play in his third wide receiver spot with DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett in week one, Carroll said: “We are staying optimistic. We’ll see what happens.”

Lockett had surgery with a hand specialist in Los Angeles last December and missed only one game But that was a different injury and operation than Smith-Njigba’s. Lockett’s was for a broken bone in his index finger.

Two weeks after running backs were about the 21 injuries over 16 practices of Seattle’s training camp, wide receivers are now beaten up. Dareke Young is away seeing a specialist about possibly getting abdominal surgery for issues that won’t go away. Cody Thompson missed practice Tuesday with an injured shoulder. So did undrafted rookie Matt Landers. He had been impressive until a groin injury last week turned into an adductor-muscle issue.

The Seahawks signed undrafted rookie wide receiver Malik Flowers from Montana on Tuesday. He practiced for the first time with Seattle in the afternoon. The team waived defensive end DaMarcus Mitchell two days after it had signed him.

Cade Johnson returned to practice. It was a somewhat remarkable sight to see him catching passes and fielding Michael Dickson’s punts 12 days after he left Seattle’s first preseason game at Lumen Field strapped to a stretcher with his head and neck immobilized.

He passed neck- and head-injury tests and has recovered from a concussion.

“We brought in a new kid, (undrafted rookie Justin) Marshall. So we’ll see what happens here,” Carroll said of depth at wide receiver.

“We are a little bit tested.”