Atlanta, GA
Injuries Present ‘Great Opportunity’ For Seahawks’ Cornerbacks in Atlanta
RENTON, Wash. – With injuries piling up in the secondary, the Seattle Seahawks will be without starters Riq Woolen and Tre Brown when they square off with the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, leaving the team incredibly short-handed on the road against one of the top offenses in the NFL.
But while the Seahawks will have to weather the storm without Woolen, Brown, and Artie Burns, who landed on injured reserve on Tuesday with a toe injury, coach Mike Macdonald thinks highly of the team’s depth at the cornerback position, which will be put to the ultimate test dealing with an explosive Falcons attack featuring Kirk Cousins and a stable of talented receivers in Drake London, Darnell Mooney, and Kyle Pitts.
With injuries comes opportunity in the NFL, and among those who will be called upon to help pick up the slack with Seattle down three veteran corners, rookie Nehemiah Pritchett will make his first career start and Josh Jobe and Faion Hicks will make their team debuts as practice squad elevations, providing the chance to impress in a tough road environment.
“We’ll make a couple of moves tomorrow,” Macdonald said on Friday, offering more clarity than usual on practice squad call ups on a travel day. “Faion [Hicks] will come up. Josh Jobe will come up and play. The other guys on the roster will get a great opportunity to go out there and show what they can do. I’m excited to see them play.”
Jumping into the starting lineup for the first time, Pritchett will draw a difficult first assignment covering the likes of London and Mooney. But if there’s reason for optimism, the fifth-round pick out of Auburn has been thrust into game action on defense each of the past two weeks due to Seattle’s injury issues in the secondary, so Sunday shouldn’t be as much of a pressure cooker for him as it could have been thanks to those experiences.
Logging 39 defensive snaps in three games so far in his rookie campaign, Pritchett’s overall coverage numbers have been rock solid, as per Pro Football Focus, he has only allowed three completions on eight targets for 52 yards. He produced a crucial third down pass breakup late in the fourth quarter of a Week 5 loss to the Giants, giving Geno Smith and the offense one last shot to tie or win the game, though that deflection came one drive after he got burned by Darius Slayton and lucked out when Daniel Jones overthrew the receiver in the end zone.
Tackling has been a bit more problematic for Pritchett, who has three missed tackles on fewer than 40 snaps and posted an ugly 60 percent missed tackle rate. He will have to be much better in that area against Atlanta, which ranks in the top 10 in yards after the catch through six weeks.
With Pritchett exclusively being a boundary cornerback, the Seahawks will have to do some mixing and matching in the slot, with Witherspoon still seeing some action sliding inside in nickel and dime packages. Coming up from the practice squad, though he hasn’t played any regular season defensive snaps in the NFL, Hicks may be the best option to play inside in nickel sets when Witherspoon moves back outside, while Jobe will be the better option as a second outside cornerback.
A position-flexible defender, Hicks played 274 snaps in the nickel role for Wisconsin at the college level and has played nearly 100 snaps inside during preseason play over the past three seasons with the Broncos, Saints, and Browns, though none of those snaps came this past preseason in Cleveland. He also should see some action on special teams, which he has previously done in two regular season games when he played for Denver earlier in his career.
When Witherspoon does slide into the slot, the 5-11, 190-pound Jobe should provide Seattle with a fairly experienced option to line up across from Pritchett. The former Alabama standout played 255 defensive snaps for Philadelphia over the past two seasons, spending the majority of that time on the outside. His performance proved to be a mixed bag in coverage, as he allowed 17 receptions and three touchdowns on 30 targets with four pass breakups, yielding a 113.8 passer rating.
Considering the opponent, having to rely on Pritchett, Jobe, and Hicks to play significant snaps isn’t an ideal scenario for the Seahawks as they try to snap a three-game losing skid. But Macdonald embraces the next man up approach regardless of position and with all three coming off a week where they received all of the practice reps, while it remains to be seen how he will deploy them, he’s eager to see how they respond when opportunity knocks in Atlanta.
“If Spoon’s not at nickel [cornerback], then you would see some other guys you might not have seen but have been repping there. We’ll leave the combinations, let them figure that out at this point. But Spoon will play nickel at some point. Other guys will play nickel as well. They’ve all gotten those reps, so we should be ready to go.”
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The public is getting its first look at the two pandas that will be heading from China to Zoo Atlanta.
NBC’s Janis Mackey Frayer was able to visit female Fu Shuang and male Ping Ping before they make the nearly 8,000-mile flight. The giant pandas are both 6 years old and are headed to the United States as part of a new decade-long conservation agreement between China and the U.S.
Ping Ping’s keepers say he tends to follow them around, which is atypical behavior for a panda, but may be because of the food they have for him. Fu Shuang — which translates to “double happiness” — is playful, but nervous, and enjoys placing her chin on her paw. She also likes apples and has a penchant for finding them.
“Because we will hide pieces of apples, for example under the tree … she can find them everywhere,” panda keeper Wang Shun told Mackey Frayer, noting her “clever” behavior.
The pandas are part of an international cooperative research agreement on giant panda conservation between Zoo Atlanta and the China Wildlife Conservation Association, a renewal of panda diplomacy between America and China that began in 1972.
“Zoo Atlanta is delighted and honored to yet again be trusted as stewards of this treasured species and to partner with the China Wildlife Conservation Association on the continued conservation and research efforts that are the most important outcomes of this cooperation,” Zoo Atlanta President and CEO Raymond B. King said in a statement in April.
“We can’t wait to meet Ping Ping and Fu Shuang and to welcome our Members, guests, city, and community back to the wonder and joy of giant pandas.”
Pandas are already at zoos in Washington, D.C., and San Diego. Zoo Atlanta maintained a panda agreement with China from 1999 until 2024, when Lun Lun and Yang Yang went back to their home country, along with their two youngest cubs.
Animal behaviorist James Ayala marvels at how pandas mature.
“You see cubs and they seem so cuddly and clumsy and cute. And then they grow up into these big, majestic bears,” he told Mackey Frayer.
Fu Shuang and Ping Ping will be transported further south into a mountainous region where they will be prepped to make the trip to the U.S. It is unknown when they will leave.
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Soccer fever took over The Battery Atlanta on Thursday as fans gathered outside Truist Park for a rare chance to see the FIFA World Cup trophy in person.
Children kicked soccer balls across the plaza while crowds counted down to the dramatic reveal of the iconic trophy, widely considered the most coveted prize in international sports.
The appearance marked the first public viewing of the FIFA World Cup trophy in Atlanta.
“It’s the real trophy,” said fan Abdulrahman Dwead. “Nobody is allowed to touch the actual trophy unless you won it or are the president of FIFA. So, me standing beside that cup, that’s an honor to me.”
The trophy stop carried extra significance because Atlanta is one of the host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Local fans said the event gave them a deeper sense of excitement ahead of the tournament.
“It’s the greatest feeling in the world,” said Melissa Richardson. “It’s something that doesn’t happen often and to be here in this moment is very important to me.”
The trophy was displayed outside the ballpark before moving inside Monument Garden during Thursday night’s Braves game, allowing ticket holders another opportunity to see the historic prize.
Organizers said the event gave thousands of fans a rare chance to experience a piece of soccer history in Atlanta.
“I’m so happy that Atlanta will host eight games,” Dwead said. “I’ve been here in Atlanta for almost 14 years and I love Atlanta so much.”
Copyright 2026 WANF. All rights reserved.
The Atlanta Dream are undefeated heading into their home opener and still finding ways to improve their roster.
The Dream announced Wednesday the signing of forward Amy Okonkwo to a developmental contract. It’s the latest roster move for an Atlanta team that is 2-0 and gearing up to play Sunday against the defending champion, Las Vegas Aces.
Okonkwo brings an impressive résumé despite her young career.
She most recently attended training camp with the Dallas Wings ahead of the 2026 season and appeared in eight games with Dallas during the 2025 WNBA season, averaging 11.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game while shooting better than 60 percent from the field. She recorded a career-high 20 points against Phoenix on Sept. 11, 2025, and made history as the first undrafted player since 2000 to average 10 or more points while shooting 60 percent or better through her first two WNBA games.
Her international résumé is equally impressive. Okonkwo has earned back-to-back FIBA Women’s AfroBasket MVP honors in 2023 and 2025 while helping Nigeria’s national team capture consecutive gold medals. Collegiately, she played at USC before finishing her career at TCU, where she earned 2018 Big 12 Sixth Player of the Year honors.
Okonkwo joins a 12-player roster that includes Naz Hillmon, Te-Hina Paopao, Jordin Canada, Angel Reese, Aaliyah Nye, Rhyne Howard, Madina Okot, Allisha Gray, Isobel Borlase, Indya Nivar, Sika Kone and Brionna Jones.
The signing caps a busy stretch of roster moves for Atlanta.
Earlier this month, the Dream claimed guard Aaliyah Nye off waivers after she was selected by the expansion Toronto Tempo in the 2026 WNBA Expansion Draft and subsequently waived on May 7. Nye brings championship pedigree to Atlanta, having been a member of the 2025 WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces as a rookie, appearing in all 44 regular season games and finishing fourth among franchise rookies in made three-pointers with 37.
A guard out of the University of Alabama, Nye is one of the sharper shooters in the league. She finished her college career with 389 three-pointers across stops at Alabama and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, shooting 40.9 percent from beyond the arc. In her final season with the Crimson Tide, she earned Second Team All-SEC honors after averaging 15.2 points per game and setting the program’s single-season record with 111 made three-pointers.
To make room for Nye, the Dream waived guard Holly Winterburn, a move that came with an emotional cost. Winterburn, a Northampton, England native who went undrafted in 2025 before signing with Atlanta as a free agent, said she learned she had been cut just before boarding the bus for the team’s first game of the season on May 9.
“I thought my welcome to the W moment would happen on the court, not as I’m getting on the bus for my first ever game,” Winterburn wrote on Instagram. “But that’s the reality of this business and I will always be grateful for the opportunity Atlanta gave me. I’m built for this.”
Winterburn did not stay without a job for long. The Portland Fire signed her to a developmental contract shortly after her release.
After Tuesday’s road win in Dallas, the Dream return home Sunday to face the defending champion Las Vegas Aces at 1:30 p.m. at State Farm Arena.
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