‘Hard Knocks’: Seahawks, Episode 2 recap, highlights and what we learned

“It’s rare for the best player in the game to also be the most so selfless, but the Seahawks were blessed with such a man,” says the soothing voice of Liev Schreiber.

But the praise for Smith-Njigba wasn’t done there as wide receivers coach Frisman Jackson chimed in on the sidelined saying “he’s the only number one wideout I’ve been around where you can challenge him and he ain’t taking it personal.”

It’s all fun and games for Smith-Njigba while talking with Jackson in his office, with the wideout even going as far as rage baiting his coach after he suggests more work on a play. But, he sees right through the reigning Offensive Player of the Year’s efforts. Their exchange ends in laughs and Jackson jokingly saying “They probably recording this, I was on record saying ‘Jax(on) dude, he’s a great guy we never have no arguments.” They were indeed.

The attention shifts to Sam Darnold, who’s been throwing DIMES so far throughout training camp, and it’s largely in part to his spin rate of 639, which he leads all NFL quarterbacks in. Darnold describes himself as a “spin rate geek,” saying it all started with him laying on his bed and throwing the ball when he was young.

Cooper Kupp describes how his mentality towards quarterback throws changed when he got to Seattle, previously believing it was more difficult to catch balls with too much too spin, but Darnold changed his mind. “You Spin Me Round” by Dead or Alive seems to be a the best way of explaining Sam’s passes.

Any worry of a Super Bowl hangover seems a figment of the past as Darnold appears to pick up right where he left off with tight end Eric Saubert even going as to say “He’s so f—king consistent.”

Another comparison comes to light with Macdonald attempting to instill the “Warriors in the Garden” mentality, enforcing the ability to play lethal and dangerously but also knowing when to unleash it. We then get a glimpse at the literal version of a warrior in the garden, Leonard Williams. His love for gardening is clear as he passionately describes his variegated Congo flower, showcasing a side we’ve never seen from the star defensive end.

His passion for gardening reflects the peace that came with his move to Seattle, as his describes his love for the pacific coast. Despite being named “Big Cat,” Williams says he enjoys the peace, which has also been helpful for his wife and child, Zion, who Williams has high hopes for: “I want him to be greater than me one day,” he said jokingly.

Then, Williams drops arguably the BIGGEST piece of news to come out of the episode. He said he contemplated retirement while playing on the east coast, where he spent the first 10 years of his career split between the New York Giants and New York Jets.

Alongside Williams, Hall is certainly emerging as an early candidate to be a series star. DeMarcus Lawrence joked with him about last week’s fight to which Hall responded “I have not been fighting.” But, Lawrence didn’t end there.

“You gonna fight everyone in the house … he really got little brother syndrome,” he joked as the pair laughed on the sidelines.

However, the “little brother syndrome” bodes true to an extent as Hall describes how he was born a 2lbs premature baby given a 1% chance to live, hence the ‘1%’ chain for anyone who may have noticed. So while Hall may have built a monster truck which he described as “ain’t that hard, it’s just a bunch of nuts and bolts,” it all started from a stroke of luck when he was young.

At practice, Macdonald screws up a play call and gives Hall the chance to try, saying “You can’t pull a Ron Burgundy,” but the linebacker couldn’t get the job done.

Remember Macdonald’s outburst on Hall earlier? After the linebacker bull rushed Darnold, nearly hitting him, Macdonald wasn’t impressed and lost his temper after the second occurrence, taking him off the field. “Complain all the f—k you want, you’re too close, that’s twice!” However, the two hugged it out after practice and the situation blew over, as it seems most do with Seattle.