RENTON - Robert Henry Jr. walked into the best kind of timing.
On Monday night, the Seahawks reached out and pulled the rookie running back off Washington’s practice squad and onto Seattle’s 53-man roster, turning a $13,750 weekly paycheck into $49,167 under the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement. For Henry, that’s a raise with real-life consequences - especially with a 1-year-old son at home.
“Oh, no, not at all,” Henry said Wednesday when asked about uprooting his family on short notice. “Not at all.”
Henry reported in time for his first practice with Seattle on Wednesday, and the Seahawks need him quickly. Rookie first-round pick Jadarian Price is on injured reserve and out until November at the earliest, leaving Seattle looking for help behind Emanuel Wilson, who just handled 21 carries for 81 yards in the Seahawks’ win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
If Henry gets onto the field Sunday, it would likely come in support of Wilson when the Seahawks host the 49ers at Lumen Field in a matchup for the NFC West lead. Seattle is 3-1; San Francisco is 4-0. Kickoff is set for 1:25 p.m., with the game on channel 13 locally.
Henry said Wednesday that the first day in Seattle was a lot to digest.
“Yeah, I am,” he said. “It’s a learning process.”
The playbook has demanded his full attention, too. Henry said he’s not planning to spend much time seeing the city this week.
“Every day I get an opportunity to get in the playbook every night. That’s what I’m going to be doing,” he said.
He described Seattle’s offense as very different from what he knew with Washington. The Commanders’ calls under offensive coordinator David Blough were shorter, while Seahawks offensive coordinator Brian Fleury’s system comes with an added layer: every play includes a second option, a “kill” call if quarterback Sam Darnold changes the look at the line of scrimmage.
“So the play (call’s verbiage) is much longer, because you’ve got two plays.”
Seattle had been tracking Henry for a while. The Seahawks scouted him the past couple seasons at UTSA, where he averaged 6.9 yards per rush in his final college year.
They also liked what they saw in the preseason with Washington, along with his speed, his fit in the Seahawks’ outside-zone rushing scheme and his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. Running backs coach Thomas Hammock spoke with Henry several times before this year’s draft, including on Zoom.
The concerns that kept Henry from being drafted were part of the same profile that made him available: some fumbling issues in college and a smaller frame at 5-foot-9 and 196 pounds.
Henry thinks Seattle’s system suits him.
“I’m a speedy back...so outside zone fits me perfect,” he said.
He also knows what Seattle wants from that style of runner. He mentioned the importance of “pressing your landmark,” the sharp plant-and-cut that helps a back get through the lane outside the tackle.
That quickness is part of why the Seahawks drafted Price in the first place. But with Price sidelined by what general manager John Schneider called an “upper-rib” injury, Henry becomes the speed element behind Wilson, who is built more like a hammer at 5-foot-10 and 226 pounds.
Henry’s path to this moment has been unconventional. He was a quarterback for his final two years at Lumberton High School in Mississippi, and in his four seasons of varsity football he rushed for more than 7,000 yards and 99 touchdowns.
Coach Mike Macdonald said Seattle had done its homework.
“(He’s) someone that we had a solid evaluation with throughout the process of him coming out,” Macdonald said. “Looking forward to seeing what he can do. He’s here and practicing and we’ll see how it goes.
“He’s got good vision, got good burst, got good acceleration. A lot of good stuff.”
Henry wasn’t the only running back Seattle brought in this week, either.
Two-time Pro Bowl back Joe Mixon had a tryout with the Seahawks on Monday, and Macdonald said later that day that Mixon was set to sign to the practice squad. But after Mixon’s physical exam, the team backed off. By Tuesday, the Seahawks had reversed course and Mixon remained unsigned.
“Didn’t work out,” Macdonald said Wednesday. “Probably the most we should say about it with respect to the process.
“Those things happen and it’s a part of the process.”
Seattle then pivoted to another back with local roots, signing Seattle native Dontae McMillan to the practice squad instead of Mixon. McMillan, a 5-foot-10, 204-pound runner, rushed for 1,000 yards at Eastern Michigan last season.
He spent this offseason with Baltimore as an undrafted rookie free agent before the Ravens waived him on Aug. 30.
McMillan’s connection to the city runs deep. He grew up in West Seattle, starred at Chief Sealth High School and finished his senior season there with 2,019 rushing yards and 44 touchdowns. He was named Metro League offensive player of the year.
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