Going Through, Not Around & Other Takeaways From Mike Macdonald's Monday Press Conference

News and notes from Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald’s press conference a day after a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Oct 06, 2025 at 05:13 PM

Ari Horton

Seahawks.com Writer

After dropping their second game of the season, head coach Mike Macdonald said their mindset is still, "go through, not around," when it comes to correcting mistakes from Sunday's 38-35 loss.

"Obviously we're not pleased. We're disappointed in the outcome of the game. I thought the guys did play hard. We fought to the last second. It's a good example how the NFL works. There's a lot of games where in our two-year history where I felt like you play complimentary football and defense is helping out offense and special teams, things like that. Certain games come to mind. Yesterday was a game where our offense and special teams had to pick up our defense and it came down to trying to get a stop towards the end or scoring late and we weren't able to do either of those things. So we scoured through the tape, made a bunch of made corrections and guys are on board. Go through, not around as we like to say around here, but what's important is we learn from it and we go attack the heck out of this week and we come back fresh on Wednesday and all eyes straight ahead and get ready for Jacksonville."

Along with a few injury updates about Devon Witherspoon, DeMarcus Lawrence and others, here are four things we learned from Macdonald on Monday.

1. Macdonald's Thoughts On The Tackling

While the Buccaneers weren't able to get much done on the ground, only rushing for 56 yards, Tampa Bay did find success through the air, and in particular, yards after the catch. Tampa finished the night with 379 receiving yards, 204 of those coming after the catch.

"We missed too many [tackles], especially on the perimeter," Macdonald said. "So it's a technique thing and an all-11 type of thing. So really as a defense we have to play better, we have to take better angles, think we need to practice it better. I know we train the heck out of it, but it's not showing up on tape right now, so we got to keep attacking it."

Macdonald said part of that is making sure all defenders are getting to the ball.

"We missed tackles earlier in the year as well, but they didn't show up as much. We have more guys at the point of attack and it's a lot easier to take your shot when I'm next to you and I got three guys behind me ready to clean it up for me rather than just me versus you out in the open field."

2. "Everybody Sees How Well Sam's Playing"

Sam Darnold put up his best numbers this season on Sunday, went 28 of 34, throwing for 341 yards, four touchdowns, both season highs, and finished the day with a 135.4 passer rating. This also was enough to be a nominee for this week’s FedEx Player of the Week.

As for what has stood out about Sam, Macdonald said, "Just the consistency, the composure, [Tampa Bay] is a tough defense but to be able to play decisive be on time. I think he's taking really smart calculated risks, ripping it when he needs to, taking care of it when he needs to. I know the guys around him are playing really hard so it's good to see the ball get distributed around him, which is how we envision it. Tight ends coming alive and I think we're protecting him really well too, which that coincides with the timing of plays and him being an on time receivers, getting their spots as well. But I mean I think everybody sees how well Sam's playing, so I don't see it any different."

3. Jalen Milroe Package & What That Means For Other Teams

For the third time this season, rookie Jalen Milroe took a snap. He's been used in special packages in the San Francisco, New Orleans and now Tampa Bay game. In Sunday's game, Milroe attempted a pitch to running back Kenneth Walker III that ended in a fumble recovered by Tampa Bay.

Macdonald sees using Milroe as an advantage, when plays are successful.

"The play didn't go our way," he said. "Could have made a better pitch, could have had a better pitch relationship. We want to take care of the football, that's number one, but we want to stay aggressive too."

Macdonald also said, "We have more plays for Jalen. I think it's a combination of we really like the plays that we have for him and we're doing a lot of great things on offense when Sam's the only quarterback in the game too, so trying to balance that as well. I think part of the reason we're having success right now on offense is that we're throwing our fastballs and we're running our offense. We're running all of our plays and Jalen's package is a part of that and teams have to prepare for it. I think that helps us and we're executing it really well in practice and they look good in practice and you start getting conservative and not calling stuff because you're scared. It's like we don't want to live like that."

4. Dareke Young Shined On Special Teams

Consistently a standout in training camp, Dareke Young had the opportunity to show off his kick return, pass catching and big tackling abilities on Sunday. During the third quarter, Young caught a deep pass for 36 yards to help set up a Seahawks touchdown.

"You've seen this version of Dareke throughout camp and it's great to see him do it in games. We've been bouncing around with kick returners here for a minute and it's great to kind of find guys that are going to go be decisive and go rip it… Offensively he gives us an added weapon as well, both in run and pass. So [the] more great players to be able to put on the field, the better for us and happy for Dareke that he's put himself in that situation where he can compete for snaps and play a really important role in our football team on special teams."