The Seahawks players keep talking about their unique brotherhood. They call it their secret sauce, their key to their roaring season.
Seventy men — 53 on the active roster, 17 more on a practice squad that has contributed regularly and sometimes mightily to Seattle’s 12-3 season and clinched playoff berth — seem to be completely bought-in to a young leader in his second year as a head coach at any level of football.
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Why?
Because of behind-the-scenes moves such another one Mike Macdonald made this week.
“We’ve got a great head coach,” defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence said.
The 12th-year veteran defensive end said that after his 38-year-old head coach gave the players Friday, Saturday and Sunday off last weekend. That “mini bye” was following their rally from 16 points down in the fourth quarter to a massive win over the rival Los Angeles Rams.
The players came back to work Monday. That was for meetings and film study to begin preparing for the next game, this Sunday at Carolina (8-7).
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Typically in the NFL the prep week before a Sunday game includes a players day off Tuesday, then practices Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with a final walk-through Saturday.
For this holiday week Macdonald and his Seahawks players’ council discussed the rarity of practicing Tuesday, then again on Christmas Eve Wednesday.
“Coming off of a three-day break, we felt like we didn’t need to come in on a Monday and then have another off day. That seems like a lot of off time back-to-back,” said Pro Bowl defensive lineman Leonard Williams, a players’ council member. “We came to the agreement that it would probably be better to just work on Tuesday and have Christmas off.”
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Macdonald with 66-year-old former NFL head coach Leslie Frazier as his Seahawks staff confidant and assistant head coach gave the players and coaches the day off Thursday, Christmas Day. And we mean OFF. No meetings. Nowhere near the facility. Home with family and loved ones.
Six teams — the Commanders, Cowboys, Lions, Vikings, Broncos and Chiefs — played on Thursday. Six teams practiced: the Jaguars, Steelers, Cardinals, 49ers (coming off a Monday night game), plus the Packers and Ravens (with a game against each other Saturday). The Seahawks? They were among the NFL teams with games Sunday that stayed away from the team facility, away from football Thursday for Christmas.
Pro football players are used to a standard schedule between games. Their bodies, their minds and their recoveries from the brutal games are used to certain rhythms. Sunday to Sunday goes one way. Sunday to a game the following Monday night is another. So it Thursday to Sunday.
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This is one of the rare weeks in a players NFL career they have a game on Sunday yet were completely off, not even at the facility, three days before it. It’s especially rare to do that with a road game with travel across the country days later, in Seattle’s case to Charlotte, North Carolina, Friday following practice.
“This was pretty much a layup,” said Macdonald, a 10-year assistant with the Baltimore Ravens and a college assistant at Georgia then Michigan before coming to Seattle. “If you get a chance to give the guys Christmas Day, in our world, you’ve got to try to do it as best you can.
“That hasn’t happened often in my career, and you’re definitely appreciative when the schedule aligns that way.”
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Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike MacDonald smiles after the Seattle Seahawks 38-37 overtime victory at Lumen Field, on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, in Seattle.
Seahawks players in yuletide
The players, of course, loved having no football on Christmas, for a change.
“With the Thursday night (Rams) game, it really makes sense to come in here, move around a little bit, and get going on a Tuesday. We’ve had a few days off,” quarterback Sam Darnold said.
“So there was a lot obviously that Coach Mike and his staff and some of the guys really thought about and put together this schedule, and I think it’s great.
“It’s huge. Whenever you have a coach that’s willing to listen to players and just do what’s best for the team, at the end of the day we can all respect that.”
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Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) walks off the field after the Seattle Seahawks 38-37 overtime victory at Lumen Field, on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, in Seattle.
The players and coaches returned from Christmas off with a regular Friday practice. That is, heavy on fine-tuning the on-field work with the game plan, lighter on the running, blocking and physical work. Then they boarded buses to the airport to fly to North Carolina, due to land late Friday night Eastern Time.
They and we will see Sunday how the Thursday away affects the Seahawks’ play Sunday at Carolina.
But Friday, morale was soaring for a team two wins these last two games of the regular season from the NFC West title and home field throughout the conference’s playoffs — with more time off with a first-round bye — as the top seed.
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How did the players respond on the field to their rare Thursday off? “Had a great Christmas, and great day today,” Macdonald said Friday.
“I thought the guys did a great job.”
Macdonald’s Christmas was especially great. He and his wife Stephanie have a 12-month-old son. The coach got to be home all day Thursday with Stephanie and their baby boy Jack.
Not that the little guy knew it was Christmas. Not yet.
“No, he had no idea what was going on. It was funny,” Macdonald said. “He had a great day though. We had an awesome day. Probably an all-time great Christmas up to this point.
“We’re really blessed. It was a great day.”
Seattle Seahawks defensive end Leonard Williams (99) and head coach Mike Macdonald embrace after the Seattle Seahawks 44-22 win against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field, on Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, in Seattle.