Seahawks name Week 1 captains, will wear all-navy, and Emmanwori keeps trending up
Two days out from the banner game, three things came out of the facility Monday.
All college navy against New England
Seattle will wear the all-college-navy combination for the opener: navy jerseys, navy pants. It is the look the team wore for most of the Super Bowl run and the one the crowd expects on a night game. Worth noting for anyone buying a jersey to wear Wednesday: the navy Game jersey is the one that matches what the team is actually wearing on the field, not the white or the Action Green alternate.
Macdonald is naming captains weekly
Rather than voting season-long captains, Mike Macdonald is naming a new group each week. His explanation, in his own framing, is that it is “a combination of guys who are doing a great job, guys who are trying to build up and give an opportunity to have a voice with the rest of the team.”
It is a small thing that says something about how this staff runs a room. A defending champion has more players who deserve the patch than a season has patches, and rotating it keeps the honor live rather than settled in August. It also means the captains for the opener are not necessarily the captains in December.
Injury report, two days out
Ty Okada remains the only Seahawk who has not practiced, with a hamstring. Nick Emmanwori was limited again Monday, which is the third straight day of limited work, but Macdonald said he did more than in previous sessions. Emmanwori still carries no game-status designation, which historically points toward a player suiting up.
Tory Horton (hamstring) and Josh Jones (knee) were also limited. Anthony Bradford moved from limited Sunday to full Monday. Zach Charbonnet remains on the physically-unable-to-perform list and is out a minimum of four games.
On New England’s side, center Ben Brown has already been ruled out with a knee injury, running back TreVeyon Henderson did not practice with an ankle, and Christian Barmore went from did-not-practice Sunday to full Monday.
The final report, with game-status designations, publishes Tuesday. We update the injury table as soon as it lands.
New England paid its cornerback
Separately, the Patriots signed cornerback Christian Gonzalez to a record-breaking extension Tuesday, per the team’s own coverage.
It is worth being precise about what that does and does not change. The Super Bowl was won on the ground and with takeaways: Kenneth Walker III carried 27 times for 135 yards and took MVP, the first running back to win it since Terrell Davis, and the defense forced three turnovers while New England punted eight times. Darnold’s line was 19 of 38 for 202, and Seattle won by 16 anyway.
Paying the cornerback secures a real player. It does not answer the front seven that got run through. The open question is on our side: Walker is in Kansas City, Zach Charbonnet is on PUP for at least four games, and the room is Jadarian Price, George Holani and Emanuel Wilson.