Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald shares update on mystery injury for QB Geno Smith

Seattle Seahawks starting quarterback Geno Smith missed his second straight practice at training camp today. Yesterday Gregg Bell at the Tacoma News Tribune reported that Smith's issue is related to a spill he took during Tuesday's practice and involves his hip and his knee.

After today's practice at the VMAC, head coach Mike Macdonald spoke with reporters and offered an update on Smith's status. Macdonald says that Smith is "working through some things" and will get imaging done to determine the best path forward.

Smith has been free of major injuries in his NFL career to date. However, he has only played about four full seasons as a starting quarterback - from 2013-2014 with the New York Jets and these last two years with the Seahawks. The rest of the time he's been a backup behind a motley crew of sometimes better, and sometimes just more famous QBs. In any case, his body hasn't taken the kind of wear and tear you'd normally expect from a 10-year starter.

Still, there's no way to know at this point what Smith is dealing with or how long he may be out. What we do know is that as long as Smith is on the sidelines, Seattle's first-string quarterback will be Sam Howell, who the team traded the equivalent of a seventh-round pick for to the Washington Commanders a few months ago.

That may be a concern, because according to some observers Howell has been almost alarmingly inaccurate at Seahawks practices so far. After Howell the next man up on the depth chart is P.J. Walker, a one-time would have been XFL MVP who has started just nine games in the NFL.

Whether Smith's injury is something minor and he'll be back in a few days or if it's something more significant those two will be heading up the quarterback room, especially during the team's three preseason games. Their preseason schedule starts on the road against the LA Chargers next Saturday night.