5 Notes From Mike Macdonald's Monday Press Conference

Takeaways from head coach Mike Macdonald’s Monday press conference.

Aug 19, 2024 at 06:09 PM

Ari Horton

Seahawks.com Writer

Seahawks center Connor Williams (57) and guard McClendon Curtis (66) practiced at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton, Wash. on August 19, 2024.

Following Saturday's Week 2 16-15 loss to the Titans, the Seahawks reconvened back in Seattle at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center, after being away for five days.

"It's great to be home," Mike Macdonald said. "But we had a great practice today, wasn't that hot, but guys got after it. I thought we practiced fast. This was a big week for us. Molding our team here before we play Cleveland and then we'll move forward from here."

Here are five more notes from his press conference:

The defense has room to grow

After the defense had a strong showing against the Chargers, granted more of the one's did not play against the Titans, Macdonald said following the game he wasn't as pleased with the defensive performance.

"I'm pleased with where we were on offense, defensively, not so much. I don't know what the actual numbers were. I think they're like 30 percent, but you don't count penalties. And then I think there's another stat they converted like four-of-seven third-and-10 pluses, which is like a huge no-no. So we looked at our execution in those situations. You can't be getting manned penalties on third and long in the fringe area. So there's a lot of room for growth on defense. I thought we took a step back this week, so we got to improve in that area moving forward."

Macdonald added the entire team is in a spot to grow over the next few weeks.

"There's a lot of room for growth, which is an optimistic way of saying there's a lot of things we screwed up. If you look at the positives, like, "Good, all right, we know what we have to work on and get after it." Time is ticking. There's a sense of urgency behind it, we have to make some of these mistakes go away as we move forward, the guys know that. Expect some big time jumps here this week."

Offensive line battles are still ongoing

The Seahawks are heading into Week 3 of the preseason and offensive line battles are not finished yet.

"I feel good," Macdonald said on where he feels the offensive line is at overall. "I mean they're coming together. We're still battling out there at guard, but I think you've seen improvement throughout, especially in the last week from Wednesday to Thursday to Saturday. So we'll expect that growth here over the next couple of weeks."

The battle he's talking about is at right guard between this year's third-round draft pick Christian Haynes and second-year player Anthony Bradford.

Macdonald on Christian Haynes, "I thought he looked good. I thought AB [Anthony Bradford] played well, thought Christian played well. They got a great battle going, but I was pleased with the crew that started out the game."

On Bradford, Macdonald added, "I think he stacked a couple of good practices and some good reps throughout the game, but we're still in it right now. So, the competition's yet to be settled."

Connor Williams is practicing

After signing veteran center Connor Williams, Macdonald said the team was going to start slowly ramping up Williams to practice, and Williams was at practice today. "We had planned to ramp him in and it's good to see him get a few reps today and hopefully we'll keep that process growing as we head towards the season."

When Macdonald and company were bringing on Williams, it wasn't so much about what they were missing, but rather what he can bring to the team.

"When we're talking about bringing in any player, you're saying, "Hey, we think this is a heck of a player that can help us." And that's the way we feel about Connor. But we also expect him to do the things that he does well on the move block, pass block, making the calls, taking charge up there. So it's not anything against the other guys. It's more of a vote of confidence in him and what kind of guy we think he is."

Special teams' improvements

The Seahawks have had a few different opportunities to try out the NFL's new kickoff rule and have saw some bigger returns on those plays, but Macdonald is big on growth and knows the team can still improve in some areas.

"We are not there yet on special teams. Our return units, we've generated a couple explosive returns, which are exciting, but our cover teams need to improve. It's football in its purest form, man. Our fundamentals need to be better, how we leverage the football, how we get off blocks, we need to improve in those areas."

No word on this weeks starters

While the Seahawks have their final preseason matchup at home, fans will have to wait to know if they'll be able to see their favorite player on the field. Macdonald said he hasn't made a decision yet about who will be playing.

"I'm going to talk to some of the guys today. I have a pretty good idea, but I want to confirm it with them before I say anything publicly."

Also, on the injury side, there are no updates on Pharoah Brown.

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Seahawks tight end Tyler Mabry (85) practiced at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton, Wash. on August 19, 2024.

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Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen (27) practiced at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton, Wash. on August 19, 2024.

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Seahawks quarterback Sam Howell (6) practiced at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton, Wash. on August 19, 2024.

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Seahawks quarterback PJ Walker (15) practiced at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton, Wash. on August 19, 2024.

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Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith (7) practiced at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton, Wash. on August 19, 2024.

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The Seahawks practiced at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton, Wash. on August 19, 2024.

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Seahawks tackle Charles Cross (67) practiced at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton, Wash. on August 19, 2024.

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Seahawks guard Laken Tomlinson (70) practiced at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton, Wash. on August 19, 2024.

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Seahawks tackle Garret Greenfield (76) practiced at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton, Wash. on August 19, 2024.

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