Seahawks Rookie Minicamp: Devon Witherspoon, Jaxon Smith-Njigba Limited

RENTON, Wash. - While first-round picks Devon Witherspoon and Jaxon Smith-Njigba donned their helmets and practice jerseys for the Seattle Seahawks for the first time on Friday, they were mostly bystanders to open rookie minicamp.

Though Witherspoon and Smith-Njigba participated in warmups and the latter did a bit of work during individual drills, per coach Pete Carroll, the Seahawks plan to slow play them back into action after each dealt with hamstring injuries during the pre-draft process. With it being mid-May and the regular season still nearly four months away, there's no incentive to rush them.

"Both guys had hamstring issues in the offseason, so we just want to make sure we know where they are," Carroll told reporters on Friday. "We don't want to go too far, too fast, there's no reason at this point."

Seattle will have to wait a bit to see Witherspoon and Smith-Njigba elevated to full participants and neither player will likely do much on Saturday to close out minicamp, as the two rookies spent the entirety of Friday's practice in the ears of assistant coaches Karl Scott and Sanjay Lal, partaking in invaluable mental reps as they look to learn a new playbook.

In particular, Smith-Njigba could be seen jumping into the huddle every play during team drills, making sure to hear each call and go through the plays with Lal.

"They can still get all the learning done, there's a lot of walkthrough plays in this process we go through, so they can get the learning and see what's going on," Carroll said.. "They've been on zoom calls since the draft with our coaches, so they do understand what's going on, now they're putting it together. But we're assessing more than anything to make sure we know where we are."

After surpassing 1,600 receiving yards in 2021, Smith-Njigba injured his hamstring early last season and only played in three games for Ohio State. Still working his way back from the injury, he didn't run the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine, but did post elite numbers in the 3-cone drill and short shuttle. Weeks later, he ran a 40 at his pro day workout, showing no residual issues with his hamstring.

For those concerned about Smith-Njigba's status after missing most of last season, the rookie receiver indicated the injury is in the rearview mirror for him. In time, he will gradually work his way back up to a full workload and his limitations right now are simply part of that plan to avoid a setback.

"I feel great," Smith-Njigba said. "I feel 100 percent, ready to go. I'm happy I'm out here competing."

This was the extent of Devon Witherspoon's day, as well as Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Both #Seahawks    rookies were getting mental reps as team slowly works them into things after hamstring injuries in pre-draft process. pic.twitter.com/44TnElgRI3
— Corbin K. Smith (@CorbinSmithNFL) May 12, 2023

As for Witherspoon, the All-American cornerback isn't fretting about his situation either. After not participating in Illinois' pro day due to his own hamstring injury in March, the Seahawks are also being cautious about not ramping up his activity too quickly and increasing the odds of re-injury.

Unlike Smith-Njigba, Witherspoon also has yet to sign his rookie contract, which may or may not be a contributing factor to him sitting out most of Seattle's rookie minicamp as well. Once OTAs kick off next week, he expects to see an uptick in activity as he rounds back into top shape just in time for eventual duels against star receivers DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.

"Just taking it easy on me. Trying to help get me back to the routine, nothing crazy."

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Seahawks? Click Here to subscribe to AllSeahawks.com's Newsletter.

Follow All Seahawks.com on Twitter and Facebook.

Make sure to subscribe to our daily podcast @lockedonseahawks today! Click here To Listen.

Want even more Seattle Seahawks news? Check out the SI.com team page here.