The Seattle Seahawks have dealt with a number of injuries this season, yet they still find themselves tied for the best record in the NFC through 13 weeks.

Seahawks’ Lawrence delivers Macdonald’s ‘new favorite play’

As the Seahawks prepare for an important five-game stretch run that includes key divisional matchups with the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers, some of the players they are missing are nearing their returns.

Head coach Mike Macdonald on Monday shared updates on a few injured Seahawks during his weekly conversation with Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk.

• When asked if safety Julian Love would return this week, Macdonald expressed some cautious optimism.

“Looking positive,” Macdonald said. “He’s gotta take it day by day. Nobody wants him out there more than I do, trust me.”

Love hasn’t played since Week 4 while dealing with hamstring injury that eventually landed him on injured reserve ahead of Seattle’s Week 9 game against Washington. The earliest the Pro Bowl safety could have returned was last week.

“He has worked extremely hard and incredibly diligently to get himself back out there,” Macdonald said. “This is not a function of him not being ready to go or not doing all the things. He’s taking it to the nth degree to come back and be as healthy as he possibly can, and our trainers are doing the same thing. It’s just one of those funky things that sometimes … don’t go your way and the timelines change.”

• The Seahawks designated rookie defensive lineman Rylie Mills to return to practice last week after he had sat out while recovering from a torn ACL suffered last season at Notre Dame. Macdonald said the fifth-round pick had a solid first week of practice, but that he will likely need the full 21-day practice window to be ready to be activated to the 53-man roster.

“I’m not gonna bet against him, but I think it would be important for him to stack as many reps as he can to gain the confidence he needs to play at a certain level,” Macdonald said. “But did a lot of great things (in practice), he’s putting in a ton of work. I can’t wait. It’ll be fun to watch him this week to see the jump that he made.”

• Macdonald said cornerback Josh Jobe cleared concussion protocol following Sunday’s game. Jobe was injured in late in the fourth quarter and did not return.

Hear The Mike Macdonald Show at 9:30 a.m. on the day after Seahawks games. Listen to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app. 

More on the Seattle Seahawks

• Where Seattle Seahawks now stand in NFC playoff picture
• Brock: A similarity Seahawks’ offense has to Super Bowl teams
• Observations from Seattle Seahawks’ 26-0 shutout of the Vikings
• Stacy Rost: Takeaways from Seattle Seahawks’ win over Vikings
• Seahawks Instant Reaction: Defense dominates in shutout vs Vikings