Report: Jaxon Smith-Njigba set to begin season on active roster, not injured reserve

Have you heard, the Seattle Seahawks rookie class is struggling with injuries? Players getting hurt is no laughing matter, obviously, but the organization has seemingly struggled with a ridiculous number of rookie injuries on a yearly basis, whether this is simply confirmation bias or not. For this reason, many were disappointed but few were surprised when news broke that one of the team’s two first round picks was slated for preseason surgery. Jaxon Smith-Njigba looked phenomenal throughout the first two weeks of the preseason, but following an injury in the Week 2 contest against the Dallas Cowboys, reports emerged that he required surgery on his wrist to repair a slight fracture.

While initial reports were unclear on his recovery timeline, Pete Carroll maintained his trademark optimism, and it is starting to sound like that optimism wasn’t entirely unfounded, at least according to Ian Rapoport.

Clearly, there can be a large gap between being on the active roster and being available to play, so we won’t know exactly how soon to expect to see Njigba taking the field for the team. However, reports are sounding encouraging. Initial reports from less than a week ago suggested a 3-4 week recovery timeline, but this was prior to surgery, so we will have to wait and see how accurate this ends up being. Being on the regular season IR would’ve put JSN out until at least after the bye week.

Hopefully, the team won’t have to wait long to send out the dynamic trio of JSN, Lockett, and Metcalf. In the meantime, we have preseason wunderkind Jake Bobo and the emerging Easop Winston Jr., so the Seahawks are bound to have some competition at the position no matter what!