The Seattle Seahawks made a somewhat interesting roster addition earlier in the week, signing veteran tackle Bobby Hart ahead of mandatory minicamp. Recently re-signed swing tackle, Josh Jones, had not been practicing throughout OTAs. Jones had dealt with some late-season injuries while deputizing for the injured Charles Cross, but ultimately didn’t have a game designation for the Super Bowl and even played 10 combined snaps between offense and special teams.
Why hasn’t Jones practiced through OTAs and minicamp? Well, Macdonald’s comments at Wednesday’s press conference are very telling.
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“Bobby’s a good tackle,” Macdonald said. “We need a third tackle. And Josh hasn’t practiced yet. So, Josh needs to practice to compete with Bobby.”
When asked what’s Jones’ issue, Macdonald plainly stated, “He’s not practicing.”
“He’s just not ready to practice yet,” Macdonald said when asked if his absence is related to last season’s injuries. “So he needs to become ready to practice. That’s his responsibility.”
Given the details of Mike Macdonald’s grueling conditioning test, for which he reportedly said he would’ve let go of a player on the spot if not for his guaranteed money, it’s easy to immediately speculate that Jones has not gotten himself in shape for practice. If that’s the case, then a Super Bowl win won’t be enough for Macdonald to ease up his high standards.
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Or it could be nothing and Jones is just healing up injuries from months ago. Macdonald’s response and body language suggests this isn’t injury related—“compete with Bobby” might be the biggest line of them all.
The full press conference can be seen below.
