Seahawks rookie Jaxon Smith-Njigba having surgery to repair wrist injury

Seattle rookie receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba broke a bone in his left wrist in Saturday night’s preseason win over the Dallas Cowboys and will have surgery this week in Philadelphia, coach Pete Carroll confirmed after practice Tuesday.

Carroll said the team is optimistic about his recovery and that there’s a chance Smith-Njigba could be back in less than a month — the Seahawks open the season on Sept. 10 against the Los Angeles Rams at Lumen Field.

“He’s going to get surgery,” Carroll said. “He’s with a hand specialist. He’s got a slight fracture that we just want to make sure we do the right thing to ensure that he gets back as soon as possible and as safe as possible. We’re going to be optimistic about it, three or four weeks, we’ll see what happens. We don’t know yet.”

Carroll said Tuesday afternoon the surgery had not yet occurred but that “it’s coming, soon as they can get it. I’m sure that it (won’t) be more than tomorrow.”

Smith-Njigba was injured on a 48-yard reception from Drew Lock with 9:36 to play in second quarter in which he was tackled just shy of the goal line. Smith-Njigba came up clenching his left wrist and had it examined on the sideline.

“His hand went down in a flash of an instant and caught it wrong,” Carroll said.

Smith-Njigba, a first-round pick (No. 20) out of Ohio State, has been one of the team’s standout players in training camp and has a team-leading six receptions on seven targets for 83 yards. He has given every indication of becoming a reliable third receiver along with veterans DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.

Carroll said he thinks the practice Smith-Njigba has had should mean he’ll be able to quickly get back into things once his wrist is healed. Smith-Njigba took part in every training-camp practice and the two preseason games after playing just three games last year in his final season at Ohio State due to a hamstring injury.

“He’s done really well, when we get into a particular game plan for the week when everything is getting zeroed in there, he won’t have any problem,” Carroll said.

Smith-Njigba becomes the latest Seattle rookie to suffer an injury, as five of the team’s other 10 picks in the 2023 draft did not play against Dallas, including cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who has missed both preseason games with a hamstring injury.

Carroll said Witherspoon did walk-through work Tuesday and the team hopes he’ll be back soon with an eye toward playing in the season opener.

Three other rookies also remained out of practice Tuesday — running back Kenny McIntosh (knee), nose tackle Cameron Young (calf) and defensive tackle Mike Morris (shoulder).

“Mike [Morris] had a procedure yesterday to see how he would respond to it,” Carroll said. “He’s got a shoulder that’s bothering him a little bit. A little bit worried about that, but it’s still pretty sore. Cam [Young] has got a calf that just takes a while. We would like to see him get back next week. Neither one of those guys will make it back this week.”

Center Olu Oluwatimi (elbow) also missed the Dallas game but did some work in team drills Tuesday.

Carroll said McIntosh, injured in the mock game, is “getting close” but that “it doesn’t look like he’s going to make it this week, so we’ll just have to see what happens.”

Smith-Njigba’s injury puts further stress on a Seattle receiving corps that has begun to see the injuries pile up.

Seattle had nine healthy receivers for practice Tuesday, but that included two players signed in the past five days — Justin Marshall and Malik Flowers. Flowers was signed Tuesday after a workout following the walk-through and then took part in practice.

In good receiver news, two players who sat out the Dallas game returned — Cade Johnson and Easop Winston Jr.

Johnson was cleared out of concussion protocol to return to practice but was limited as he works his way back after being carted off the field at halftime of the team’s preseason opener against Minnesota, while Winston returned from a groin injury.

Seattle also practiced Tuesday without two others who played in Saturday’s game — Dareke Young and Cody Thompson.

Carroll indicated Thompson won’t be out long, saying, “We’re going to take it day by day and see what happens. See if he can make it back for the weekend.”

But the prognosis is far less clear for Young, who missed the Minnesota game with a hip injury but played against Dallas. Carroll said the injury has remained an issue and that Young may have to have surgery.

“Yeah, he’s got this (hip) abductor thing that he’s got to get looked at seriously,” Carroll said. “We might have to get it fixed.”

Also, the team had high hopes entering camp that Dee Eskridge, Seattle’s first pick in the 2021 draft taken in the second round, could fill a significant role this year. But he was suspended for the first six games of the regular season earlier this month for violating the league’s personal-conduct policy and is currently sidelined due to a knee injury suffered against the Vikings.

And Matt Landers, who scored a touchdown in the Vikings game, also remains out with a quadriceps issue with no clear timeline or his return.

“We’re a little bit tested,” Carroll said of the team’s receiver depth.

But one constant, along with veterans Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf, has been undrafted free agent Jake Bobo of UCLA. Bobo has been rotating in with the starters regularly in practice of late having had two solid games with a combined 98 yards on five receptions and a touchdown.

Tuesday, he lined up consistently along with Metcalf and Lockett in the team’s three-receiver sets.

“Jake’s flying pretty high right now,” Carroll said. “He’s done great. He hasn’t just done well in the few plays in the game. He’s done well in practice throughout. He’s been really steady like it’s not a surprise to see him play like that in the games. We were thrilled to see what would happen, you know, because he’s been making plays out here. He looks like he’s part of the flow to me. I don’t see any reason why we would think different. 

“He’s consistent, he’s tough, he’s really, really smart and savvy. He’s been a real factor, and he’s gotten behind people too, in both games. I feel so fortunate that we got him outside of the draft. So we will see how far he can take it. But he’s in the middle of everything right now.”