Excitement abounds for Seattle Seahawks ahead of season opener
Members of the Seattle Seahawks go through warmups ahead of a practice at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center on Sept. 4, 2024. (Curtis Crabtree / FOX 13 Seattle)
RENTON, Wash. - "Excited."
That's the word you hear more than any other through the halls of the Virginia Mason Athletic Center as the Seattle Seahawks get set for the first regular season game of the Mike Macdonald era on Sunday against the Denver Broncos.
Excitement for the first game of the season. Excitement for the potential of the team on both sides of the ball. And excitement to put their offseason of work installing a new foundation to use.
"Excited to be at home, excited to be in front of the 12s," Macdonald said. "It's going to be loud. I hope that my ears are ringing, (I) hope that we have trouble communicating. That's a big point of emphasis this week. We got a really good opponent coming to town, but we got a full week's worth of work ahead of us. It's an exciting time."
While the true ceiling of this Seahawks team remains largely uncertain, the optimism around the team feels real. A new offense under coordinator Ryan Grubb that seems well positioned to accentuate the skills of Geno Smith, Ken Walker III, DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. A defensive scheme built by Macdonald that made the Baltimore Ravens one of the league's best last year with several intriguing pieces tasked with running it effectively now in Seattle, and a head coach in Macdonald that has changed a culture that was in need of a course correction.
"He's very cerebral," Metcalf said of Macdonald. "He loves football, loves the game, loves scheming up other opponents, and loves watching the film. He's just all about football, all about getting everybody better. And he's a very team-oriented guy. So, one individual is not bigger than the team. I think that's the main thing that really sticks out about his coaching points or his coaching approach."
When it comes to the offense, most of the questions fall on the offensive line. With the bevy of skill position talent, if the line can be a league average unit or better, the potential for the offense as a whole seems high.
"I know we kept it pretty vanilla during the preseason on both sides of the ball, but Grubb is known for his explosive plays down the field. So, just looking forward to him opening up the playbook so that we can exploit defenses and push the ball down the field," Metcalf said.
On defense, the Seahawks need to see a significant improvement with their run defense compared to the last two years especially. Linebacker Tyrel Dodson is one of many defensive additions tasked with pushing the unit forward under Macdonald's vision.
"We're going out there, we're trying to set a tone," Dodson said. "Being as good as we can be, we're going to get better each week. The potential is so high for this group that I'm expecting people will laugh at my expectations. That's how much I expect from everyone and myself."
As the team gets set to begin their maiden voyage under Macdonald, the new Seahawks coach said they took time to thank the people behind the scenes for the work they've put in to get the team to this point.
"We told everybody this week how appreciative we were of all the work that goes into it," Macdonald said. "There's so many people behind the scenes, all the players, all the support staff, everyone in the building. It's so much work just to try and get it aligned and kind of bring it in the same direction. I'm very appreciative of everybody's attitude. I think we're on our way to that, I think it's an ongoing process from here till eternity, hopefully. But here we are. We’ve got to go play a football game and go try to put our best foot forward."
Notes
– Macdonald said that it's fair to read into the team not putting linebacker Uchenna Nwosu on injured reserve as a sign he won't be out more than the first four weeks of the season. However, an exact timeline of Nwosu's absence is still to be determined.
Nwosu suffered a reported sprained MCL in the preseason finale against the Cleveland Browns when he took a diving block to his left leg from guard Wyatt Teller.
"Well, we didn't put him on IR so you can probably put two and two together on when we hope to have him back. There's no definite timetable right now though," Macdonald said.
– Macdonald also wouldn't say whether center Connor Williams will be able to play this week or not, but quipped he will play for them this season. Williams wasn't listed on the injury report and was a full participant in practice on Wednesday, which would be a strong indication he'll be ready to play this weekend.
"He looks great and we'll see how it plays out throughout the rest of the week," Macdonald said.
– The Seahawks signed defensive end Kenneth Odumegwu and defensive tackle Quinton Bohanna were signed to the practice squad on Wednesday.
– Tight end Pharaoh Brown (foot), and Nwosu (knee) were the only players who did not practice on Wednesday.
Tight end Noah Fant (toe), wide receiver Tyler Lockett (thigh), safety Rayshawn Jenkins (calf) and linebacker Dre'Mont Jones (hamstring) were all limited.
Linebacker Jerome Baker, who missed most of training camp with a hamstring injury, was not listed on the injury report and was a full participant.
Injury Report: