NASHVILLE — The day began with some hearty hellos from current Seattle Seahawks to former teammates, and now Tennessee Titans, Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams.
It ended the same way, with a few handshakes and other some quick catching-up once the Seahawks and Titans finished a roughly 2 1/2-hour joint practice Wednesday at Tennessee’s facility.
In between there was the expected strutting and jawing — an awful lot of jawing.
Adams let the Seahawks know about it when he stopped Kenneth Walker III on a run on the first 11-on-11 play.
Diggs likewise punched the ball forward accompanied with a few words when he closely defended Jake Bobo on an overthrown and incomplete pass.
But nothing rose to the level of a penalty, as both sides mostly kept any hot feelings on a 90-degree day with 43% humidity in check.
“The league is cracking down on that stuff, man,” Tennessee receiver Calvin Ridley said afterward. “You can’t just come out here and fight anyone and just walk home after this and think you’re OK. But we came here to work, man. We don’t want to come out here and fight.”
Still, fights have too often accompanied joint practices, and both coaches reminded players about their goal of a fracas-free day when they gathered before the joint work began.
There were a couple of “almosts” that had to be quickly toned down, the most notable coming when Seattle reserve safety Ty Okada put his shoulder into a Tennessee runner and some Titans took offense. Though contact was allowed, there was not supposed to be to-the-ground tackling, and quarterbacks were off-limits to contact.
The presence of Adams and Diggs on the other side — both key members of the Seahawks the past four years — led some to wonder how the day might develop. The Seahawks also still have the memory of a five-fight practice at the VMAC last week.
Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said he was glad nothing happened.
“For the most part we were responsible and we did a good job,” Macdonald said. “But I just wanted the guys to know what shows up on tape is who we are. So let’s make sure we are doing the right things between the lines.”
The goal now is to repeat that feat during the second day of joint practices Thursday. There have tended to be more altercations on the second day, one thought being the familiarity helps lead to some lingering feelings erupting. It’s also expected to be a little hotter Thursday.
Here are more thoughts on Seattle’s first joint practice since 1991:
Adams departs early
After his early tackle on Walker, Adams came off the field and appeared to return for only a few more plays. On one, working with Tennessee’s second unit, he blitzed and forced quarterback Sam Howell to quickly dump the ball off. But after the first sessions of 11-on-11 Adams did not appear to play. He has missed a few practices because of what Tennessee coach Brian Callahan last week called general “soreness.”
Adams, though, was a constant presence on the sideline.
He led a rush of players onto the field to celebrate during a punt drill when a Titans gunner appeared to get clear of his block and have a bead on a tackle of Seattle returner Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Seahawks players responded with a zealous reaction on the next play — obviously making a point — when Okada made a good block on Tennessee’s gunner.
But Adams at times also kept it light, standing near Seattle punter Michael Dickson during a special-teams session and joking about how bad his punt was (though in far more colorful language) after a typically booming kick.
“That was fun, man,” Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith said of catching up with Diggs and Adams. “Really miss those guys. Quandre and Jamal are good friends of mine, and I’m always rooting for those guys. They are in the wrong colors right now, but those are our guys and we love those guys, and it was great to see Jamal back out there knowing what he’s been through, how much he’s fought. And Quandre as well.”
Defense stout up front
Though the practice featured some significant sessions of 11-on-11 work, most of it was situational, and no score was kept.
The work was split onto two fields — one featuring Seattle’s offense vs. Tennessee’s defense and the other featuring Tennessee’s offense against Seattle’s defense.
Macdonald, who is calling Seattle’s defensive plays, stayed solely with the defense. On Wednesday Macdonald said he might go back and forth between the fields.
His assessment of the defense: “A lot of positive things at the line of scrimmage, especially with our [starters]. Some things in the back end we need to clean up for sure. The [second-string] defense, we’ll evaluate what it looks like. I don’t want to come to any conclusion right now, but we’ll see when we get a chance to watch it.”
First-round draft pick Byron Murphy II again was a force up front, several times easily busting through Tennessee’s offensive line for pressures or run stops.
He worked extensively with the reserves early but also with the ones, especially at the end after Dre’Mont Jones left because of an injury.
Macdonald has made clear he’s wary of heaping too much praise on Murphy before he plays a regular-season game. Asked about Murphy’s play and if he has to try to temper his excitement, Macdonald smiled and said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The practice was also a chance for the Seahawks to get ample looks at the varied ways they want to use Devon Witherspoon. He again lined up with the base defense at left cornerback and moved inside to play nickel when Seattle put a fifth defensive back on the field.
Witherspoon was beaten a couple times by Tennessee receiver Treylon Burks in one on ones. But he also got a sack of quarterback Will Levis on the final play.
“I have to blitz him, because otherwise he’ll complain the whole practice,” Macdonald said. “So I’ve got to send him early. He’s doing a good job.”
Metcalf star for offense
Smith had no trouble finding receiver DK Metcalf, getting one long completion to him over the middle in front of Diggs, and then also connecting with him for a slant pass on third-and-goal, the final play for the No. 1 offense. It was officially ruled down at 1-yard line but Smith said he assumes Metcalf would have scored.
Tennessee’s website credited Metcalf with “a ton” of catches.
The Seahawks, though, had trouble dealing with star Tennessee defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, who sacked Smith once. Simmons argued he should have had one more on a play the officials let continue, and he stopped Walker behind the line of scrimmage.
“We can always get better in all facets or four game, so we’ve got to go back and watch the film and see exactly the details of what that is,” Smith said, “But overall I thought we moved the ball pretty well.”
