The penultimate episode of Seahawks Hard Knocks is out, with the preseason now in full swing and plenty of narratives to farm drama and entertainment from. Coming off a disappointing opener and leading into a joint practice on the road, what were the primary storylines this time around? Let’s go through five major ones.

A Jake Bobo Tragedy

It wasn’t hard to understand why the very first thing shown in the episode was a conversation between Jake Bobo and Jackson Frisman in a meeting room. Frisman encouraged Bobo to remember his role on the team, understand the kinds of things that are needed from him. He’ll never be a superstar, but he can be a tone-setter and glue guy.

We know how this story ends, but this episode gave us a new perspective on it. He got another segment the following day, discussing his recent hamstring injury and attempts to get back to work after returning from it. A few days later, Bobo would go down with a season-ending injury during the joint practice, which was also featured about midway through the episode.

Trevon Diggs Earns A Spot

Another key moment of the episode was the Trevon Diggs saga, both his workout and his meeting with Schneider discussing where he is in his attempts to return to NFL stardom. During that meeting, Diggs discussed his ability to finally have a clean offseason, without rehabbing or recovering from a major injury, which he feels has him ready to return to form.

The Seahawks seem to be buying this, or at the very least enough of it, to sign Trevon to a contract. It may be a one-year, veteran-minimum contract, but it was enough to get him to sign. The episode didn’t make a huge production out of the conclusion of the story, and we didn’t see much of Diggs after his Schneider meeting, but his optimism can clearly be felt.

Pump Up The Intensity

The sleepy preseason game in Dallas. The repeated emphasis on the team’s lack of operation speed. The poor start to the joint practice. There was a clear repeated theme of the team not giving the level of effort and displaying the level of intensity desired. After the joint practice, there was a moment where Julian Love and Leonard Williams discussed it.

For now, these are good problems, because they’re bubbling up during the preseason, weeks before the games start to matter. If they continue to persist a few weeks from now, in September? Then we’ve got a big issue. But this team has earned our trust, and based on the results last season, I think we can expect them to ramp it up.

A Partially Happy Ending

The game itself provided, in many areas, a satisfying conclusion to some of the above concerns throughout the episode. The Seahawks backups took the field against the Titans starters and were largely dominant early on, racking up two touchdowns and a field goal. Montorie Foster, who was a minor focus of the episode, made plays on offense and special teams.

The defense, critiqued for getting bullied by the Titans in the joint practice, brought a lot more fire. Of course, it was a tragic conclusion for Bud Clark, who fractured his ankle, which also got plenty of focus late in the episode. We got to see Clark make it clear he immediately knew how bad it was, putting a damper on the proceedings. Credit to him for taking it well, though.

Another fun episode, although you can definitely feel the seriousness cranking up as we get closer to the season. At the very end, Macdonald pulled the players in during the postgame to assure everyone that he’s convinced they’re a better team now than they were last week. I’m inclined to agree, which means far more than the final score.

— Enjoy free coverage of the Super Bowl champions from Seattle Seahawks On SI —

Sign Up For the Seahawks Daily Digest - OnSI’s Free Seattle Seahawks Newsletter