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Seahawks Return From Mini Bye Feeling 'More Aligned As A Team'

The Seahawks returned to the practice facility on Monday following a mini break after the game on Thursday night.

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The Seahawks returned to the Virginia Mason Athletic Center on Monday following the 17-14 loss to the Denver Broncos on Thursday. The longer weekend, thanks to the Thursday game, gave players and coaches a chance to rest and reset, as well as have a handful of conversations about where the team stood and the changes needed to get there.

"Based off the game, where my frustration lied, I think we talked about this after the game, but just the identity of us and Seahawk football. That feeling wasn't there," head coach Mike Macdonald said. "You're frustrated but also without the facts and without the objectivity behind everything, so that's what makes the problem-solving process interesting. That's part of the reason we like being coaches is because that's part of our process. So I'm proud of the couple days work that we put in. I think we had some honest conversations, an honest process. I think we're definitely more aligned as a team than we were a few days ago and I'm excited about where we can go, honestly."

"I think it was definitely a couple days well-served," he said. "So I think it's cause for excitement on where we can go."

In Thursday's game, Darnold was sacked five times, the Broncos had 17 quarterback hits and Darnold threw two interceptions, all of which were points of emphasis, but not the only focus in the conversations Macdonald was having.

"When you look at how there's line items throughout all three phases of our team that we want to get better at," he said. "Those are symptoms of things that are within our control that we can be better at. The example I like to use it tackling. If we are not tackling well, it's not because the guys don't want to tackle. It's probably because there is too much space. It's probably because of a fundamental that maybe we could've worked better, or the guy could've applied better to that type of situation, or maybe it's more effort coming from a certain angle, or it's an angle that we need to take. It's more fundamental things that we want to be able to apply in those situations. Those are things that we can handle here throughout the week so that our players are better trained to go tackle better. If we tackle great, then everyone's going to say, 'Hey, they're playing great Seahawks defense.' It's because their fundamentals are on point. Hopefully that paints a better picture of what we feel like can slow down the takeaway issue."

Macdonald also said Seattle's offensive scheme was discussed in those conversations as well.

"The long answer is, are we running bad plays? No. The plays are fine," he said. "It's how we get to the plays. It's how we run the plays, how we choose the plays, how we execute the plays. Those types of things."

Check out photos of the Seahawks 53-man roster for the 2026 season.

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