Cooper Kupp, Seahawks giddy for first padded practice of training camp

RENTON, Wash. – No matter how many years he plays football, a day like Monday – when his team put on pads for the first time – felt different for Seahawks receiver Cooper Kupp.

“It’s the same thing since the beginning of time,’’ said Kupp, who turned 32 in June and is entering his ninth NFL season. “Since Pop Warner football, you do the first few days without pads on, then the first day of pads the butterflies are a little bit more, the energy is just a bit higher. That doesn’t change. It was the same thing back when I was 9 years old as it is now in Year 9.”

Kupp’s excitement was matched by head coach, Mike Macdonald.

“This is a big week,’’ Macdonald said. “Pads are finally on. We’ve gone the past four months asking, ‘When do the pads come on? When do the pads come on? When do the pads come on?’ So now they are on. Now it’s time to go. You can see like when we are playing real football who can hold up when we are physically challenging each other.’’

Who held up the best?

Mostly the defense, which turned in two interceptions and a safety and generally held stout on running plays.

Here are three thoughts on what we saw:

A breakout day for Nick Emmanwori?

There might not be another Seahawks rookie eliciting as much intrigue as the 35th overall pick, safety Emmanwori, out of South Carolina.

One reason for that excitement is his measurements. He’s listed at 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, the kind of size in the secondary Seattle hasn’t really had since Kam Chancellor.

Maybe it makes sense that on the first day of full pads and full contact, Emmanwori made his biggest play of camp.

During an early drill in which the offense began at its own 1-yard-line, Emmanwori stepped in front of a hurried pass from rookie quarterback Jalen Milroe at about the 4-yard line and waltzed in for an easy touchdown.

Milroe, who was operating the No. 3 offense, tried to lob a pass over some pressuring linemen to tight end Brady Russell, but Emmanwori read it perfectly.

“It was a great play,’’ Macdonald said. “Wish he’d put the ball away when he caught it. But yeah, I was asking him like, ‘Are you having fun out here or what? Great atmosphere, competing.’ We’re asking a lot out of him. He’s playing hard, learning a lot. But good to see him make that play.’’

At the moment he’s not competing for one of the two base safety roles – which are held by Julian Love and Coby Bryant – instead, he’s playing mostly as a third safety in five- and six-defensive back sets.

But Macdonald said Emmanwori’s role could grow as the preseason progresses.

“I think he’s earning what we give him,’’ Macdonald said. “I don’t think we’re trying to intentionally overload him. We’re just going at the pace that he’s able to pick up. Shoutout to him and our coaches about getting him ready … as we get into preseason games, how he retains it, what we feel like we do well, we’re going to have to start making those decisions later on in camp as we look to start the season.’’

Milroe was coming off two pretty strong days when the Seahawks were in shells (light shoulder pads) on Friday and Saturday and the pick was his first interception of camp.

Morris helps key a big day for the defense

Emmanwori’s play highlighted what was a strong effort by the defense all around, especially at the beginning.

On the series before Emmanwori’s pick, defensive lineman Mike Morris burst through the line to stop running back George Holani for a safety on the first snap of a series featuring the second-team offense against the second-team defense.

Morris is in his third year after being taken in the fifth round out of Michigan in 2023 and is in a key year for his career after playing sparingly the past two seasons.

“This is where he needs to prove his worth is when we’re in pads,’’ Macdonald said. “There’s a big role for him that we expect out of him. We’ve got a vision for him, he’s on his way to making it come to life. But he’s in a battle, too.’’

Cornerback Riq Woolen also had an interception of a Sam Darnold pass during a 7-on-7 drill when he stepped in front of a corner route of a throw intended for tight end AJ Barner.

“We (the defense) started practice the right way today, which was good,’’ Macdonald said. “We haven’t done that every day on defense, so that was nice. So, offense needs to respond tomorrow because they didn’t start fast.’’

Kupp confident offense will find its way soon

It was ominous for the offense from the beginning as the No. 1 unit had two straight false starts during its first 11-on-11 series when starting at its own 1-yard-line.

Macdonald felt the offense particularly struggled in the running game.

“We didn’t run the ball very well today, so we’ve got to do better,’’ Macdonald said.

Macdonald, doesn’t feel concerned about the offense, saying some back-and-forth is what happens this time of year.

“That’s how these things work,’’ he said. “Offense is going to come back (and then) there’s going to be things on defense we’re going to be itching to fix. And that’s how you become a better football team.’’

Still, while the offense has had its moments, through five practices the general view is, the defense has usually had the upper hand.

That shouldn’t be a surprise given that the defense is returning almost every key player from the end of last season while the offense is breaking in a new scheme under first-year coordinator Klint Kubiak as well as a new QB in Darnold and two new receivers in Kupp and Marquez Valdes-Scantling to replace DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.

Kupp acknowledged that the offense isn’t where it wants to be right now but said he has little doubt the offense will begin clicking soon.

“There’s going to be a point where all the playbook is in, and there’s going to be a point where it’s all down and you’re like, ‘Hey we’ve been doing this for a while now,’’’ Kupp said. “And now plays are recycling, like, ‘I’ve seen this play before. I’ve done this. I’ve run this a couple times now with different looks.’

“This is when the feet start to get comfortable because you’re hearing plays in the huddle and you’re not thinking about where you’re lining up, you’re thinking about leaving the huddle saying, ‘Man, I hope we get Cover 4 because I know exactly what I want to get done on this.’

“That’s the point you want to get to. And with all these guys, we’re going to get there. It’s about continuing to challenge yourself, continuing to think that way and push yourself to try and get there as quickly as possible. We’re going to get there very soon. There are glimpses of stuff that’s really fun to see when we’re watching film because we’ve got guys that want to do that.”