Head Coach Mike Macdonald Recaps The Week 12 Win, Gives Updates On Injured Players

Head Coach Mike Macdonald Recaps The Week 12 Win, Gives Updates On Injured Players

All right, everybody. Uh, it’s fun looking at this TV screen here. Um, before we get going, I just uh I’ll actually make it right from the last couple uh media things we did the last over last day or two, but just want to shout out our our twelves. Man, it was incredible atmosphere. Um, I had some friends that that live in Nashville. They were telling me about the, you know, um, you know, the downtown scene was just filled with Seahawks fans everywhere. People flying in. All their planes are filled with with Hawks fans. And, um, I’ll tell you what, there’s some great moments throughout that game where, uh, you could feel the energy generated from our from the twelves on the sideline. And, uh, I know our guys really appreciate it. And, uh, just want to say thank you for for making the effort and all the enthusiasm. It was a it was it was really a sight to see something something that’s pretty rare. You don’t really I don’t think I’ve ever seen that in my career. Just that that amount of fans on on a road trip. So, thank you, Brian. Yeah, coach. Um obviously you’ve talked about how important toughness and reliability is um for players and and values you guys want to instill. When you got a player who might be a little bit hurt and they’re adamant that they want to play and you’ve got training staff that’s saying maybe be a little cautious, how do you kind of balance the line of allowing them to just demonstrate the toughness and reliability but also maybe protecting them from themselves? Yeah, it’s a great point. It’s uh it’s tricky. You know, I don’t think I don’t think uh what I’m learning is, you know, it’s not like there’s a you know, you get it imaged or you get a test and then they all of a sudden there’s some sign that comes popping up and says yes or no. you know, it’s it’s it’s a matter of opinion and there’s, you know, you’re operating in gray in the gray a lot, but no pun intended. Um, I think I think the way I see it is, you know, if we’ve deemed it safe for them to play and they’re not at like added risk of, you know, putting themselves in danger of getting worse. Uh, that’s kind of the line that we’re looking at. you know, I think that’s our responsibility as the club to to not put our guys in danger, but um when they’re ready and willing, it definitely uh definitely makes you appreciate, you know, the effort and the toughness for sure. And there’s times, you know, there’s been situations where we’ve had to make the decision for guys that have wanted to play um you know, because it was in their best interest even though they they wanted to give it a go. So, um it’s a it’s a it’s a tricky situation. It really is. It’s it’s really a case by case deal and um takes a lot of trust. And then uh are you expecting Julian Love and Eric Sabbert to practice this week? Um yeah, we’re we’re still working through Julian’s situation and same thing with uh with Eric. So we we’ll see on Wednesday what the what the plan is. Right now we we don’t really have a clear enough plan to report. Okay. Thanks, John. Yeah, Mike. When we talked to Clint Kubak last week, he said he was seeing a lot of growth in the run game. Another solid game. I think 5.7 yards a carry for you guys. Just where you seeing the improvement there and how has that helped you guys offensively as a whole? Yeah, I this is um to your point, this is something that we’ve talked about for really the the length of the season and we felt like the effort was there. Um but the detail we kept wanted to chase and we felt like you know a lot of these runs were a block away and that either that’s uh you know it’s either at the second level the receivers you know blocking it’s hitting our targets going to the right people initial movement um you know get being in and out of the right plays. there’s kind of a reason on every play, but it also felt like uh we were doing the right things and we’re on the right track. It just we just got to keep keep firing away at it and and um stay in the course and our guys have done that. Uh I feel like everybody’s really improved including the running backs and uh I think you’re seeing um you know the results of that of that process and u our coaches are doing a great job scheming it and you know we expect to stay on this track. It’s going to be really important for us to be able to run the ball uh end of November into December. Jen, on the flip side of that, coach, when you look at run defense, it has been a long time since we have seen a 100yard rusher. When you get to this point in the season, how demoralizing is that when you know you can count on the defense to come through in those moments? Well, it’s a catalyst for the rest of the things we want to be able to do on uh on defense and putting these offenses in in, you know, exclusively passing situations. And um when we when we do get in those situations, what we learned from this game is we have to execute it at a, you know, execute better. Uh rushing coverage working better together. But speaking of the run defense, um the guys are playing really hard. They’re playing sound. when we do run pressures, I think our pressure execution right now is um probably the best it’s been in the last two years. And uh there’s some really great stuff going on communication wise and uh making sure everybody’s on the same page. And so that’s a tribute to those guys preparation and being bought in of how we want to operate as well. So, um that’s something that we need to be able to continue to do. Bob. Um, yeah, Mike. First, any updates on the guys who were hurt yesterday? Ty or Chaz or George Hani? Um, let’s see. Yeah, those guys, uh, really don’t know what to say. I mean, they’re they’re banged up. They got, you know, they got their respective injuries. Um, I would say that IR is, you know, part of the equation with those guys. um something we have to decide and it’s really going to be a function of how the some of these tests come back and how they progress throughout the rest of the week. Uh we’ll see what their availability is for this Sunday, but they probably have to turn a corner to be a to be available this week. If uh if Tai’s out then and with Julian with SA with the safety depths, is that kind of what? Yeah, we’re just going to play with one safety and put everybody else in the box. I’m just kidding. I don’t know. We’re gonna We have to figure something out. And and one more for me. Um, what did you think of Sam Darnold’s day yesterday when you looked at it on film? Well, I thought there was a lot of there’s several um situations where he’s working through his progressions and getting to number three, including the backs to keep the ball moving forward. I thought those were great plays for us. And then, you know, identifying opportunities to throw it downfield, you know, obviously that the man covers the jacks to really spark the day was uh was great. And I thought he made some great decisions in the red zone. I mean, even even the play at the end of the half out of Jacks right there in the on the back line, I thought was a great play call and great execution by our guys and we’re, you know, inches away from, you know, scoring a touchdown there at the end of the half and with the ability to double up going into the second half. Maza, hey Mike. Um, why is power such an important element for your team? This from this morning you talked about why is what power. Power. Yeah, you talked about like the power generation of when you’re tackling then the power to finish. Why is just an elemental fundamental to your team and how you want them to play? Well, I I think I think I mean our guys are powerful in their own right, but I think it’s going to come from like multiple people at the point of attack. You know, I can be the strongest man in the world, but if I’m one-on-one with you in the open field, it’s going to be hard for me to knock you backwards and get you on the ground. Like, just guys in this league are too are too uh too talented. And so it’s really a team game. You got to make every tackle a vice tackle. You got to restrict space in the box. Uh offensively, you have to be able to sustain blocks and uh use the proper angles and and have really just have the resolve to keep moving forward. So um it’s simple and not easy. You know, it’s not easy to do that on a down in down out basis. And I think um that’s what separates the great teams in our league. And then on your red zone, what are you seeing there in terms of the needing to finish? I mean, you can’t score a touchdown every time, but you better score more than nine. Yeah. Well, we need to improve in both both phases, offense and defense. Um, it’s the same things. It’s it’s you got to keep the ball moving forward. You know, you can’t go backwards. So, when we’ve done that as an offense, we’ve scored touchdowns. You saw that with uh with Zach’s touchdown there on the left side um uh in the second half. So, that’s a positive, you know, and defensively, you got to be able to stop the run and then when they’re forced to forced to throw it, you gota you can’t let them scramble and extend plays and throw it past the sticks. I mean, it’s it’s really the same formula. It’s just uh you got you can’t let them like a like a four yard play on the 10 yard line is, you know, 40% of the distance to the end zone. If you get a four- yard play on the minus 40, you’re looking at it’s no big deal, you know, so yards are at a premium down there. Thank you, Harry. Uh, when you watch back the tape, what did you think of Byron Murphy’s game that he had? Uh, that was one of Byron’s best games. I thought he was dominant. Uh, the play he made on fourth and short was just a incredible play. Um, really took on three defenders. Uh, set the point of attack. I thought he rushed really well. There’s some there’s some times where we have to augment our communication with him and up front of what we intend to do and how we intend to work together, but um he’s playing at a really high level right now and I’m happy to see it. And then with Jackson, do you ever have conversations with him about the kind of season that he’s having and how impressive it is what he’s doing? Um, no. No. I just normal conversations and he he I guess what’s understood doesn’t need doesn’t need to be spoken. And it’s just like just keep being you, brother. I mean, just same thing with the rest of our team. I mean, he’s playing a a really integral part of what we’re doing right now offensively and as a team. But, um, but he’s still part of the team, you know, he’s and the way that he approaches every day and the way he practices and prepares, uh, helps our team, you know, the best it can going into games. So, but yeah, it’s no special conversations. I mean, he one play at a time. Michael Sean and Mike, you said uh after the game you felt Ken. Um you’ve used like felt as your descriptor before just but in terms of just yesterday specifically. What what did you see to make you say that from Ken? Yeah. Well, I I think um he was decisive running the football on his tracks and making making fast decisions which was great. He took got us out of a couple tough situations and then I felt him in the pass game. You know, like I was talking about earlier when Sam got, you know, to later on his progressions and getting finding Ken late in the down to created a couple explosives for us, which was and Zack for that matter, but um we got to keep doing that, you know, find him in the pass game and and uh keep the running game going, but he played fast. Um some great plays on the sideline. Some plays on the sideline we want to play a little bit better and finish plays a little bit in a better position, but um but on the right track for sure. and you had said uh you know he had earned more opportunities and the snap counts and the usage reflect that. Uh would you like that to continue? Maybe not the specific numbers but just kind of yeah did more. Yeah, I think we’re on I think we’re I think we’ll uh stick to a similar plan. But I’ll tell you what, when Zach went in there, he made some big time runs for us. He made, you know, the two-minute run that got us a first down there on second long. Um really ensured that we were going to end the end the half with the ball, which was great. We talk about the red zone all the time. I mean, that was a heck of a run that he had that scored a touchdown, had to make the corner miss. So, Zach’s playing at a really high level now as well, but um but Ken’s also playing at a really high level. Thank you, Curtis. Yeah, Mike, what’ you think of Pat O’Connell’s day when you went back and watched it again and saw what it looked like? Yeah. Yeah, I’m happy for for for Pat. He’s um again, we’ve talked about how, you know, how he’s prepared, all the work that he’s put in, but um I thought he played a really good game. I mean, there’s the one play that he jumped on the first drive. I think that play actually I think actually like making mistake early probably helped him like calm his nerves a little bit. So, uh probably a cost of doing business on that play, but um thought he was poised. I thought he played physically, played square, uh executed really well, just really just felt like we could call our whole defense with him out there and and be able to execute at a high level. So, tribute to him being ready to go. And what do you think the outlook is for Tyrese and Ernest this week? Did do you feel like they have a chance to get back here? Yeah, hopeful for both. It looks like Tyrese is on track to uh practice on Wednesday. Uh we’ll see. You know, EJ’s normal like rep load throughout the week. We hand we take care of him a little bit on Wednesday, so we’ll take that as it goes, but I know he’s he’s uh he’s itching to play, so we’ll see how the the knee feels throughout the week. Greg, Mike, we’re in a hermetically sealed press box, so we didn’t hear Did Barner do a hard count or I have no idea what that means. What does that mean? Did we couldn’t hear that? We couldn’t hear the snap count. Did Barner do a hard count or did they just jump off sides? Um, we had we had cadence on that play and and they ended up jumping off sides. Yeah. When did you add cadence to the Barner repertoire on the We’ve actually we’ve actually done that. We’ve actually done that throughout the season. We haven’t got anybody to jump yet. So, um, but that was the first time that it worked. And then, and after the game yesterday in the locker room, Grace Zable told us he was pretty much humbled by Simmons. He thought that Simmons really took it to him. What we were watching a little bit, maybe not. So, what’ you think? Yeah. I mean, Simmons is a premier player in a league and like anytime you’re going against a guy like that, he’s going to get he’s going to get his plays, you know? It’s right. Um, but it’s a matter of competing and fighting and I thought Gray considering that played a great game. There’s some there’s some plays where um, you know, Gray sustained a block or was in a in a combination block on Simmons that really helped us spring a run. I’m thinking of the run against uh, Sharps down in the red zone. So just really proud of his effort and his competitiveness. I mean the guy’s not back backing down to anybody and won the opportunity to go against him and uh it’s a great experience for him too. Probably to probably to Grey’s point is this is uh is about as good as the NFL has to offer and and uh it’s a good measuring stick for where his game is. And where because he’s gone against that we’ve been talking about how and you’ve been talking about how great he’s been, but how against Simmons is he there yet or that’s just where he’s trying to get to? Well, I I mean, I think I don’t know. I don’t want to like put a grade on where his game is, but I think it shows you where he can go and where, you know, that that the progress and and the growth that’s available to him. And knowing Gray and how he works and seeing, you know, how he operates up to this point, I you know, I don’t expect nothing less for him to, you know, keep growing to a premier guard in our league. Thank you, Brian. Yeah, coach. I’m sure you get questions all the time from people that are interested in getting into coaching uh in football. What advice do you give them for getting started? Uh and is there like a a book or uh you know, anything else that you kind of recommend for people that are kind of getting going in the industry? Yeah, I I’ve been I’ve been really fortunate to have like opportunities come as as I’ve been younger. And so I think people um I think people it’s really it’s really important to be an asset for what the job is being asked for you for where you are in that moment. So it’s about providing like value for your team. And it could it could be something as simple as like I just got to make sure that dinner’s set up every day at 6:30. Like that’s a win, you know, and then stack that. And then what happens is is if you’re a guy that or or a girl that keeps that keeps um hitting those marks and showing that they can add value and um take things to another another level no matter what the person’s asking you that’s um that you’re working with. They’re going to keep adding responsibility to your plate and at some point someone’s going to recognize that at some point whether it’s someone in that organization or on that team or another on another team. coaches, we we all talk. And you don’t get jobs by um telling everybody how sweet you are. You get jobs by coaches recommending people for you that um have put so much invested and time into, you know, helping really that the p that the coach ahead of them succeed. And uh we respect that. And the people that have done that, in my opinion, have uh earned the right to kind of have their careers progress. And that what that also does is it really lets you learn the game and and really go about it so you have a solid foundation. So when you do get those opportunities um you can make the best out of them rather than just this quick ascension and all of a sudden you’re in a position where you’re not ready for it and um that’s really not the best thing for for anybody involved. So that would be my advice. Thanks coach Bob. Sorry there. Um, one more on the offensive line. Uh, what kind of season do you feel like Anthony Bradford has had and then and then going a couple we’ve had a couple weeks now with Olu. So, how how have you felt like he’s played there as well? Yeah, I think look AB’s he’s playing really he’s playing hard. He’s playing he’s playing hard. He’s playing physical. Um, I think the right side of our line has really developed over the course of the season. I’d include Abe in that conversation as well. you know, Abee’s coming off an injury, uh, gaining confidence, uh, with his play, kind of getting back to his old form. I think AB is the same thing. And then, and, uh, I’ll tell you what, Olu, Olu did another really nice job yesterday. Uh, he played hard. I think he made some a lot of like unsung blocks that, uh, don’t really go noticed, and he deserves a lot of credit for that. I felt like our our targets were on point for the majority of the game, especially in the run game. And uh you know, was the one running the show on that front, so he deserves credit for that. Okay, thanks everyone. We’ll see you Wednesday. All right, thank you.

Head coach Mike Macdonald praised Seahawks fans for their strong presence at the away game in Nashville (0:00). He discussed the team’s improved run game, crediting players’ and coaches’ efforts (3:10). Macdonald highlighted the solid run defense (4:25) and provided injury updates on several players (5:23). He commended Sam Darnold’s performance (6:14), Byron Murphy II’s dominant game (9:05), and Kenneth Walker III’s decisive running (10:31). Macdonald also praised Patrick O’Connell’s performance (11:54) and discussed the offensive line’s performance, including Anthony Bradford and Olu Oluwatimi (17:37). He emphasized the importance of power and teamwork in both offense and defense (7:14) and addressed the need for improvement in red zone performance (8:06).

Subscribe and hit the bell to see the latest Seahawks press conferences » https://shwks.com/SeahawksPressPass
Subscribe to Seahawks Podcasts:
https://shwks.com/youtube
Seahawks Insiders » https://shwks.com/SeahawksInsiders
Hawk Talk » https://shwks.com/HawkTalk
Seahawks Stories » https://shwks.com/SeahawksStories
The Huddle » https://shwks.com/TheHuddle
Seahawks Rewind » https://shwks.com/SeahawksRewind
Hawks Live » https://shwks.com/HawksLive
Big Ray’s Garage Grind: Mental Health Edition » https://shwks.com/GarageGrind
All Seahawks Podcasts » https://shwks.com/Podcasts
#SeattleSeahawks #Seahawks #NFL
The official Youtube of the Seattle Seahawks. Member of the NFC West in the National Football League.
Instagram » https://www.instagram.com/seahawks
TikTok » https://www.tiktok.com/@seahawks
Twitter » https://twitter.com/Seahawks
Facebook » https://www.facebook.com/Seahawks
Snapchat » https://snapchat.com/add/Seahawks
You might also enjoy some of the following NFL Channels.
NFL Films » https://bit.ly/2MDSCKf
NFL » https://bit.ly/1C8BDFd
NFL Network » https://bit.ly/29yN2HA
NFL Throwback » https://bit.ly/2PhvhQ6