Carroll: Smith-Njigba practicing days after surgery shows ‘he’s not going to be denied’

When Jaxon Smith-Njigba was told he needed wrist surgery, he informed Pete Carroll he’d be back on the field right away.
When doctors told the Seahawks last week’s operation in Philadelphia to repair a broken bone in the rookie wide receiver’s left wrist went well and that he would be practicing again in about two weeks, Smith-Njigba told his team he’d be back sooner.
So the smooth first-round draft choice from Ohio State practicing with a cast-like device over his lower left arm and catching passes from Geno Smith again just days after the surgery? That isn’t exactly shocking Carroll.
But the rapid return of the 21-year-old receiver to full practicing has raised the veteran coach’s eyebrows.
“He’s doing remarkably well,” Carroll said after Smith-Njigba practiced Wednesday for the second consecutive day. “I saw him respond to the injury at the outset, and I saw him respond to when they told him he had to get operated on. So I’m not surprised at the attitude that he’s brought post-surgery.
“He’s out here working, catching balls, catching punts. Doing everything. And he ain’t worried about it.”
The coach said Smith-Njigba’s first professional setback after a wowing spring and summer of practices and training camp with the Seahawks “could have gone a number of different ways.”
“It’s gone the way of the competitor,” Carroll said.
“He’s not going to be denied. He wants to play football.”
Smith-Njigba broke a bone in his left wrist breaking his fall while getting tackled from behind by a Cowboys defensive back at the 1-yard line. That was on his 48-yard catch and run on a pass from Drew Lock in Seattle’s second preseason game, Aug. 19.
Practicing this week, one free of games when players could be resting injuries, has Smith-Njigba on an obvious track to be the primary slot receiver inside DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett Sept. 10 when Seattle hosts the Los Angeles Rams in its opening game.
Not that Carroll was going to commit to that on Aug. 30. He doesn’t have to.
Asked about Smith-Njigba playing in the opener, Carroll smiled, shrugged and said, “I don’t have to comment about injuries. So...
“I’m hoping. We’ll see what happens.”
This story was originally
Published August 30, 2023, 6:14 PM.
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Gregg Bell is the Seahawks and NFL writer for The News Tribune. He is a two-time Washington state sportswriter of the year, voted by the National Sports Media Association in January 2023 and January 2019. He started covering the NFL in 2002 as the Oakland Raiders beat writer for The Sacramento Bee. The Ohio native began covering the Seahawks in their first Super Bowl season of 2005. In a prior life he graduated from West Point and served as a tactical intelligence officer in the U.S. Army, so he may ask you to drop and give him 10.