Is Jaxon Smith-Njigba playing tonight? Why Seahawks WR is off to quiet start in Week 16

Mike Moraitis

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Is Jaxon Smith-Njigba playing tonight? Why Seahawks WR is off to quiet start in Week 16 image

Jaxon Smith-Njigba has fully cemented himself as one of the best wide receivers in the NFL.

Entering Week 16, the Seattle Seahawks wideout has tallied 1,541 receiving yards and nine touchdowns, with the former mark ranking first among all pass-catchers.

While JSN has been a machine when it comes to production this season, he has not been immune to slow starts, and we're seeing that first hand in the Week 16 game against the Los Angeles Rams.

Here's a closer look at what's going on.

Is Jaxon Smith-Njigba playing tonight?

UPDATE: Finally! JSN is on the board with his first catch in the third quarter. It went for 20 yards.

UPDATE: We're through an entire half of football and Smith-Njigba still has no catches, which is just inexcusable. You would think the Seahawks would have at least called a play to make sure JSN gets the ball, but that hasn't happened yet.

There's a lot contributing to JSN's slow start. The play-calling has been horrible, the Seahawks have only thrown six passes and the passing attack has struggled overall.

It also appears that the Rams are keying in on Smith-Njigba, forcing other Seattle wideouts to beat them.

Hopefully the second half yields better results.

END OF UPDATE

UPDATE: Three drives and still zero catches for JSN. The good news is, he can make up for lost time very quickly, so we're not panicking about him yet.

UPDATE: JSN got his first target on the Seahawks' second drive, but Rams corner Emmanuel Forbes made a nice play on the ball to knock it away from him.

Yes, JSN is active and healthy, he just hasn't been targeted in the passing game yet.

We've been down this road before. Smith-Njigba gets off to a slow start before quickly making up for it. We'd expect that to happen on Thursday night.

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Contributing Writer