What stood out from Seahawks’ 1st training camp practice

RENTON – The champs are back at work.

Five and a half months after hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, the reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks opened training camp on Saturday at their lakeside Virginia Mason Athletic Center facility.

What Seahawks coach said about Emmanwori’s status

What stood out from Day 1 of camp? Here’s a look.

Horton makes long-awaited return

Wide receiver Tory Horton practiced on Saturday for the first time since suffering a season-ending shin injury midway through his promising 2025 rookie campaign.

Horton fielded punts and participated in offensive drills during the first half of practice, but sat out during 11-on-11 periods later on. That wasn’t a surprise, as head coach Mike Macdonald mentioned last month that they would likely ease Horton back into action during camp.

Horton, a 2025 fifth-round draft pick, had 13 catches for 161 yards and five touchdowns in eight games last season before sustaining a shin injury in Week 9. The speedy wideout also had 16 punt returns for 238 yards, including a franchise-record 95-yard punt return TD.

Horton underwent surgery in the offseason and spent the spring rehabbing.

“It’s great to see Tory back out there,” Macdonald said. “We hadn’t seen (number) 15 do his thing in a minute, so that was great.”

Witherspoon practices amid contract talks

Three-time Pro Bowl cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who has reportedly been in negotiations for a potential record-setting contract extension with the Seahawks, participated fully in Saturday’s practice.

Witherspoon displayed his usual energy and enthusiasm, smiling and high-fiving his way through a line of kids as he jogged onto the field.

Afterward, when asked about the negotiations, Macdonald expressed “confidence” in the situation.

“I couldn’t have any more confidence in our process and all the people involved in the whole operation,” Macdonald said. “I think that’s the best way to describe it – just really confident right now in where we are, and in Spoon and all his people, and the way that we do business.

“And Spoon’s doing a great job,” he added. “He’s practicing his tail off. He’s the same guy. Nothing’s changed. So really, we’re just operating as usual right now.”

‘No timetable’ yet for Charbonnet

Macdonald said running back Zach Charbonnet continues to make good progress in his recovery from an ACL tear, but didn’t have any updates on when he could return.

Charbonnet suffered the injury in Seattle’s Jan. 17 divisional round playoff win over the San Francisco 49ers and missed the remainder of the team’s Super Bowl run. He underwent surgery on Feb. 20 and has spent the offseason rehabbing.

The general assumption has been that Charbonnet will miss the first part of the season, given the average nine-month recovery timeline for ACL tears. In an expected move, the Seahawks placed Charbonnet on the physically unable to perform list on Wednesday.

“Any opportunity I get a chance to talk about Zach, I’m gonna take advantage of it,” Macdonald said. “He’s done a phenomenal job. He’s just attacked the heck out of the offseason and his rehab, as you would expect, and the returns have been what he’s deserved.

“He’s really put in that work, so I’m really excited about where he is. No timetable right now. But man, he’s kicking butt and he deserves a shoutout, because he’s a special guy.”

Lights, camera, action

The Seahawks will be under the spotlight during this year’s training camp, with a camera crew on hand to film the team for HBO’s long-running “Hard Knocks” series.

The crew was easy to spot on Saturday. Dozens of additional cameras were scattered around the practice field, along with some boom mics. And the extra attention was evident from the get-go, with two crew members following quarterback Sam Darnold as he ran onto the field.

“I told the guys, like, they’re gonna capture what we do, and they do a great job of doing that,” Macdonald said. “Let’s be us. We want them to capture us.

“We’re proud of who we are and how we do things, and so there’s really no reason to try to change anything or try to be something we’re not. Probably by tomorrow or the next day, probably won’t notice it, honestly.”

Extra points

• Tight end AJ Barner, tight end Eric Saubert and backup offensive tackle Josh Jones each practiced on Saturday after being sidelined in the spring. Barner had been recovering from two offseason surgeries, while Saubert and Jones were dealing with undisclosed injuries.

• First-round pick Jadarian Price and George Holani split the first-team running back reps. Price showed good vision and burst with a nice cutback run at one point.

• Safety Julian Love delivered perhaps the play of the day, diving to break up a pass from Darnold to Elijah Arroyo in the flat.

• Ty Okada generally worked with the first-team defense, serving as the second safety alongside Love. Rookie second-round safety Bud Clark typically worked with the second and third-team units.

• Nehemiah Pritchett was often the third cornerback behind Witherspoon and Josh Jobe in three-cornerback sets, while rookie third-round cornerback Julian Neal mostly worked with the second and third-team defense.

• With standout safety Nick Emmanwori recovering from ankle surgery, safety D’Anthony Bell got ample work with the first-team defense.

• Veteran edge rusher Dante Fowler Jr., who signed a one-year deal with Seattle in May, sat out practice for what Macdonald described as “precautionary” reasons.

“He’s worked hard this offseason,” Macdonald said. “He’s in really good shape. Today was a little more of a precautionary thing, but he’ll be back out tomorrow. And we’ve got a plan for him, so he’ll be practicing sooner than later.”

• Macdonald has “no timetable” yet on running back Kenny McIntosh, who remains sidelined as he recovers from a torn ACL he suffered early in 2025 training camp. McIntosh was placed on the PUP list earlier this week.

“Kenny’s doing a great job too,” Macdonald said. “No timetable. You know, that was a tough injury. And I know we’re going on almost a year now, but that was a really unfortunate injury for Kenny Mac. But he’s right there. He’s rehabbing. He’s working hard.”

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