Ted’s Talk: What I want to see in the Seahawks’ final preseason game

The Seattle Seahawks take on the Green Bay Packers in a weird, daytime preseason game in the final tune-up before the regular season. Here are my hopes and dreams for what goes down in Lambeau Field.

Don’t play the established starters

On the heels of the news that Jaxon Smith-Njigba broke a bone in his wrist and may miss regular season games, I don’t want Seattle to take any more risks. New for this season, the rosters stay at 90 players until after the final preseason game so the Seahawks might as well use that to their advantage and not take any more injury chances with their most important players. That might not be the most exciting thing for fans to watch, but it’s so close to the regular season at this point that the potential risk far outweighs the benefits. Heck, we should probably sit guys who will play heavily in the rotations like Derick Hall and Zach Charbonnet – especially since they’re the next two draft picks in line to get injured if the pattern keeps up.

Tre Brown vs. Mike Jackson

I don’t think the Seahawks have settled on the starting CB opposite Riq Woolen. Ideally, it would’ve been 2023 first-round pick Devon Witherspoon, but he’s out with a (re)pulled hamstring. Tre Brown and Mike Jackson were working on opposite sides with the first-team defense while Woolen was out. Now that he’s back on the field, Jackson and Brown are now competing for one spot. Jackson has been an offseason darling for his strong performance and seemed to have a leg up on Brown. The tide may be shifting after Jackson was picked on a bit against the Cowboys and Brown had an interception at the goal line. Can either one of them make a statement in the final preseason game?

Three safeties vying for (maybe) two spots

There are four safeties seemingly locked into the roster at this point – Quandre Diggs, Jamal Adams (health permitting), Julian Love, and Coby Bryant. That leaves one, maybe two spots open for Jerrick Reed, Jonathan Sutherland, and Joey Blount. Reed has nickel experience and is kind of a Diggs mirror. Sutherland has linebacker background and has been playing a role similar to what Adams is expected to man as more of a “big nickel”.. Blount made the roster last year as a UDFA and played a pivotal role on special teams, but has been nicked up this training camp. Both Reed and Sutherland played extensively on special teams in college. This is a tight race, and the decision may come down to who the front office thinks they can sneak through to the practice squad. Still, if one of these guys stands out in Green Bay, that can only help make the decision easier.

Bring the juice to Lambeau Field

The first two preseason games have been fun to watch. Seahawks players on both sides of the ball are flying around and playing with energy. That’s easy to do in front of the home crowd at Lumen Field, but the final preseason game in Green Bay is a chance to take that show on the road to Lambeau Field – a place that’s been rough on the Seahawks for a long time. Even though the game won’t count in the standings, it will be the last opportunity for some players to put themselves on tape and potentially make their dreams of an NFL dream come true. I imagine Pete will have the boys rip-roaring and ready to go.