CHARLOTTE, NC - DECEMBER 28: Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald during an NFL football game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Carolina Panthers on December 28, 2025 at Bank of America stadium in Charlotte, N.C. (John Byrum / Icon Sportswire / Getty Images)
RENTON, Wash. - Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald watched this weekend's playoff games across the NFL just like everyone else.
And he's happy to be done with it.
"I told the team today, it's weird watching full games all the way through. You find yourself rooting for teams, and you're like, why am I rooting for this team? It's the dumbest thing ever," Macdonald said. "And then you're five seconds later, you're rooting for the other team. So I'm glad it's over."
Macdonald and the Seahawks coaching staff had to wait until late Sunday afternoon to finally know who they would be playing next weekend in the Divisional Round of the NFC Playoffs. And while the specific game time of the Seahawks' game with the San Francisco 49ers is yet to be announced, that's all Macdonald needed to dive back into an opponent they know very well.
The Seahawks will now face the 49ers for a second straight game after their 13-3 victory in Santa Clara in Week 18 gave Seattle the No. 1 seed. Despite firmly controlling much of the last meeting, Macdonald cautioned that it's not likely to play out in quite the same way the next time around.
"You don't know how these games are going to go," Macdonald said. "So this game is going to play out about a 99.999% chance it's going to play out way different than the last one, and you got to do a great job of recognizing it and making adjustments and doing all that type of stuff."
Seattle had two days of practice last week before taking a break for the weekend. It's different from the way the Ravens handled a bye week in Baltimore when he served as an assistant coach under John Harbaugh.
"I was just really happy with our guys' intent throughout those two days," Macdonald said. "We got our play speeds up and got some good competitive work. That's about it. When I was in Baltimore we practiced for four days; almost did a simulated week. There are different ways to do it. I just felt like that was best for us. Then the guys can go get fresh and be ready to go today."
In perhaps the biggest benefit of getting last weekend off for the Seahawks, they didn't have the opportunity for players to get injured.
The 49ers lost tight end George Kittle to a torn Achilles. The Carolina Panthers lost offensive linemen Ikem Ekwonu and Robert Hunt to knee injuries, and the Chicago Bears lost linebacker T.J. Edwards to a fractured fibula, just to name a few of the numerous injuries sustained this weekend.
"The injury thing is really just stinks," Macdonald said. "There is no other way to put it. You feel for those guys. I look at it through the terms of like we won a Wild Card game by what we earned in the regular season. That's what gets you excited, the position we put ourselves in. But now we're on level footing with everybody else. We’ve got to go play."
Macdonald said that tight end Elijah Arroyo had a good first week of practice last week after being designated to return from injured reserve. He missed the final four games of the regular season with a knee injury.
"Elijah is looking good. He's a possibility about coming back for this game," Macdonald said.
Running back George Holani and linebacker Chazz Surratt are also eligible to return to practice this week from the injured reserve list, but Macdonald wouldn't say for sure if they would do that.
"There are some guys that are eligible to do that, yeah, that are possibilities," he said. "Everybody but the guys we said are out for the remainder of the season. (Ex: receivers Tory Horton (shin) and Cody White (groin).
Macdonald also confirmed that safety Coby Bryant will be practicing after missing the final two regular season games against the Carolina Panthers and 49ers with a knee injury.
The Source: Information in this story came from FOX 13 Seattle original reporting.
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