Seattle, WA
Jaxon Smith-Njigba Wins AP Offensive Player Of The Year
Seattle Seahawks third-year receiver, Jaxon Smith-Njigba was named the Associated Press Offensive Player of the Year, for a season campaign that included 1,793 receiving yards, which led the NFL, on 119 receptions and 10 touchdowns.
“What an honor,” Smith-Njigba said on receiving the award. “I want to first give all the glory to God. Second, I want to give it to my teammates. I want to thank y’all. I love y’all. Y’all are who I do it for each and every week. I want to give this award to my father. Going into my last year [of college], he told me to pray for wisdom, and I did. Before going into that season, I wanted to be a Top 5 draft choice, I wanted to be a Heisman candidate, a bunch of things, and ultimately, I wasn’t able to play and I think with that time, I grew wise and figured out a lot about myself, and who I wanted to be and who I wanted to do it for. Ultimately dropping to the 20th draft pick where I was selected by the Seattle Seahawks and I can’t thank everyone involved enough.”
Smith-Njigba’s third season was filled with breaking records while helping to make Seattle’s offense the No. 3 scoring offense this season (483 total points, 29.2 points per game).
Along with leading the NFL in receiving yards, he became the first player in NFL history with at least 75 receiving yards in each of his first 11 games of a season. He had nine 100+ yard games this season, with a season best of 167 yards in Week 12. He also had nine 100-yard games this season, the most in the NFL, and the most in a single season in franchise history. Along with that, Smith-Njigba set multiple franchise records and did enough to put his name next to NFL greats in the league record books.
This season he also became the third player in NFL history 23 years old or younger with at least 1,700 receiving yards in a single season and set the franchise record for most receptions in a single season with a career-high 119.
“There’s a lot of great receivers in this league who don’t have as diverse of a skill set as he does,” head coach Mike Macdonald said. “Anywhere from an intermediate route tree, catch-and-run stuff at the line of scrimmage, and then we’ve seen his ability to track the ball at the third level and keep his body position, all that kind of stuff.”
Smith-Njigba also won the Air and Ground Player of the Year award that was announced at NFL Honors.
He is just the second Seahawks player to win this award ever after Shaun Alexander won the award in 2005. Kenny Easley and Cortez Kennedy both won the Defensive Player of the Year awards in 1984 and 1992, respectively.
CHICAGO (AP) — The struggling New York Mets placed former Seattle Mariners second baseman/designated hitter Jorge Polanco on the 10-day injured list on Saturday with a right wrist contusion.
Mariners Injury Update: Latest on Robles, Vargas and more
The move was made retroactive to Wednesday, a day after Polanco went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts in a 2-1 loss at the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 32-year-old Polanco is batting .179 (10 for 56) with a homer and two RBIs in his first season with New York, which has lost nine straight.
“When doctors first took a look at him, it looked like he got hit by a pitch when he didn’t,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “In talking to him, it was just a couple of swings that he took that night. … He didn’t think much of it, but just got worse the following day.
“So you just got to let it calm down a little bit and then we’ll go from there. But we don’t have a timetable for how long this is going to last.”
Polanco, who signed a two-year, $40 million contract with the Mets in December, also has been dealing with an ankle issue.
“He was trending in the right direction,” Mendoza said of the ankle injury. “It’s definitely going to help, obviously now with him being shut down. But the biggest thing now is that we’ve got to take care of that wrist.”
Polanco spent the previous two seasons with the Mariners, who acquired him in a February 2024 trade with the Minnesota Twins.
Polanco struggled during his first season with Seattle in 2024, hitting just .213 with 16 homers in 118 games while playing through a knee injury that didn’t become public knowledge until after the season.
But after the Mariners somewhat surprisingly brought him back for a one-year contract in 2025, Polanco rebounded to hit .265 with 26 homers and an .821 OPS in 138 games last season. He then added three homers during Seattle’s playoff run, along with a 15th-inning walkoff single in Game 5 of the American League Division Series that sent the Mariners to their first ALCS in 24 years.
Seattle Sports staff made additions to this post.
Mariners RHP Bryce Miller to begin rehab assignment
Seattle, WA
Brandon Nimmo hits leadoff homer, Jacob deGrom works 4 scoreless as Rangers beat Seattle Mariners 5-0
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – APRIL 17: Corey Seager #5 of the Texas Rangers tags out Dominic Canzone #8 of the Seattle Mariners during the fourth inning at T-Mobile Park on April 17, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
SEATTLE – Brandon Nimmo hit a leadoff home run, Jacob deGrom threw four shutout innings and Gavin Collyer earned his first career win as the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners 5-0 on Friday night.
Seattle lost its fourth straight game, and was shut out for the fourth time in 21 games, falling to 8-13. The Mariners were shut out six times during the 2025 season. Texas won its third straight game.
Nimmo led off the game with a 372-foot shot to right field off Mariners starter Logan Gilbert (1-3). It was Nimmo’s 16th career leadoff homer and second of the season. He also hit a leadoff home run on April 11 in a 6-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
DeGrom effectively maneuvered through Seattle’s lineup, and worked out of a one out, bases-loaded jam in the first inning. The two-time Cy Young Award winner recorded two of his three strikeouts after walking Josh Naylor to load the bases. Randy Arozarena fanned on a curveball, and Luke Raley swung through a fastball.
Texas added to its lead after Nimmo’s homer. Wyatt Langford’s single to left scored Corey Seager, who led off the third inning with a double. The Rangers stretched the lead to 3-0 on an RBI single from Jake Burger in the seventh.
The Mariners’ best scoring chance came in the sixth after Collyer (1-0), who worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings, left the game.
J.P. Crawford singled to left off Tyler Alexander with two out, and Mariners third base coach Carlos Cardoza sent Naylor from second base, but he was thrown out by Langford.
Texas added two more runs in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Andrew McCutchen and an RBI double by Josh Jung.
Seattle third baseman Brendan Donovan left the game early due to a left hip issue.
Mariners right-hander Bryce Miller, who started the year on the injured list with a left oblique injury, was at T-Mobile Park for the first time this season. He will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Tacoma on Saturday.
Up next
Mariners RHP George Kirby (2-2, 3.25) will face Rangers righty Nathan Eovaldi (2-2, 5.40) on Saturday afternoon.
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FIFE, Wash. – A portion of southbound I-5 will be closed overnight in Fife Friday and Saturday night, according to WSDOT.
The Washington State Department of Transportation says the purpose of the closure is to install a new electronic sign and will need two nights to do it.
Crews will close southbound I-5 from 54th Avenue to Port of Tacoma Road starting at 11 p.m. Friday night until 7:30 a.m. Saturday morning. Closures will resume Saturday night starting at 11 p.m. as well, and lanes will reopen Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m.
WSDOT says the closure will include the 54th Avenue ramps to southbound I-5.
Detours for weekend I-5 closure in Fife, WA
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The Source: Information in this story comes from the Washington State Department of Transportation.
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