The Seahawks were back at it Friday for the ninth practice of training camp, though without pads after three physical, padded practices in the previous four days. The team will head across Lake Washington to Lumen Field tomorrow for Seahawks Football Fest, a chance to play in their home stadium and in front of a bigger crowd. In the meantime, here are five observations from Day 9 of camp:

1. With Geno Smith still sidelined, Sam Howell and PJ Walker are getting an opportunity to show what they can do.

Starting quarterback Geno Smith remained out of practice Friday, the result of an injury that happened in Tuesday’s practice, though he was able to finish that day’s practice. And while no team wants to see its Pro-Bowl quarterback missing any time, the silver lining is that it means more reps for backups Sam Howell and PJ Walker. Working with the first-team, Howell has had some nice moments, as has Walker in his work with the backups. Neither has been quite as impressive as Smith, which is what you would expect when a starter goes down, but both have shown some good things and kept the offense moving in Smith’s absence the past two days.

“Guys stepped in, did a great job,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said after Thursday’s practice. “Operated the offense, moved the ball. Got it out sometimes. We took a couple sacks, but it was a big third-down pressure day sort of thing so the guys they saw a pretty good gamut of stuff. Good to see them in and out of the protections and operations and stuff. Looked good, you know we’ll see on tape and see what we want to go fix moving forward.”

Added tight end Noah Fant when asked about Howell, “I think Sam’s been doing a great job. Young guy—it’s cool we’re around the same age, he’s a little bit younger—but good dude, great players, obviously he did some really great things in Washington. We’re excited to have him. With Geno hurt, he’s stepped in and has done a great job for us. We’ve been putting the ball in the end zone, doing the things that we need to do. It could be a little bit cleaner, but we’ll get there.”

2. The tight end depth was on full display.

While he hasn’t had some of the highlight-reel grabs like receivers DK Metcalf and Jake Bobo, tight end Noah Fant has had a strong camp, with the ball finding him in space often. But while Fant and Pharaoh Brown will likely be the top two tight ends when the regular season comes around, the depth at that position has been showing up at camp, and it really flashed during one stretch of practice Friday. In the span of just a few plays, undrafted rookie Jack Westover made an impressive leaping grab at the sideline, and just a couple of plays later, rookie AJ Barner had a similar sideline, toe-tapping catch. Then, not long after that, Brady Russell made a diving catch just before he went out of bounds.

“It’s been great,” Fant said. “It’s kind of raised the level of competition in camp, everyone battling and wanting the best for each other. It’s kind of a tribute to (offensive coordinator Ryan) Grubb’s system, guys are able get open and use their abilities to pop off a little bit. Any guy can do that. It’s cool to see those young guys doing their thing, I’m rooting for them. I think all of our tight ends had a catch today, which is something that’s pretty cool.

3. The defensive backs place a big emphasis on celebrating each other’s success.

When undrafted rookie Carlton Johnson broke up a pass in the end zone late in Friday’s practice, one of the first sounds audible immediately after the play was the voice of Devon Witherspoon, who was not on the field for the play, but who came running into celebrate with Johnson, who had a couple of other pass breakups early in camp. Witherspoon was just one of several starting defensive backs to celebrate with Johnson, and as Riq Woolen pointed out after practice, there’s intention behind the way Seattle’s cornerbacks and safeties celebrate each other’s big plays.

“We celebrate a lot. In the DB room, that’s one of the biggest things. We even look on the film, when somebody gets a big play and we watch the film and nobody celebrates, we ching (fine) him up in the room, because we’ve got to show passion out there. Even though we’re competing for spots, we’re competing to have fun, and whenever somebody makes a play, it’s OK to cheer them on. That gives them a boost in confidence, and it makes them want to go out there and do it again. So just building that confidence in each other and pouring it into each other, that’s what’s going to make us a great team.”

And speaking of defensive backs having success…

4. Devon Witherspoon & Julian Love just keep making plays.

The Seahawks sent two defensive backs to the Pro Bowl last season, Witherspoon and safety Julian Love, so it’s hardly a surprise that those two, along with Woolen, a Pro-Bowler the year before, have been among the most consistent playmakers in camp.

On Friday, Love showed off his range and ball skills, tracking a deep ball intended for DK Metcalf, running under it and making an over-the-shoulder catch. It was at least the third pick in camp so far for Love, who also had a would-be sack, blitzing and quickly getting to Sam Howell.

Not to be outdone, Witherspoon had an impressive tackle for loss on a run play, shooting into the backfield to greet Zach Charbonnet just as the running back took a handoff. Witherspoon also had an impressive pass breakup on a Howell pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

5. Dareke Young is quietly putting together a strong camp.

While Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, Smith-Njigba and Jake Bobo get most of the attention at receiver, several other players in that position group have looked good in camp, including Dareke Young, who is heading into his third season.

A 2022 seventh-round pick out of Division II Lenoir-Rhyne, Young was a special teams standout as a rookie, and by the end of the season was starting to see an increased role in the offense. Injuries kept him from building off of that momentum last season, with Young appearing in just six games, but fully healthy in this year’s camp, Young has made several big catches, including another nice catch-and-run on Friday. Young’s combination of size (he’s listed at 6-foot-2, 224 pounds) and speed (he was clocked at 4.44 seconds in the 40-yard dash at his pro day) always made him an intriguing prospect, and those traits are translating to the field in camp with Young finding ways to get open and use his speed once the ball is in his hands.