SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - OCTOBER 04: Justin Herbert #10 of the Los Angeles Chargers lies on the field after being sacked against the Seattle Seahawks during the fourth quarter at Lumen Field on October 04, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / Getty Images)
RENTON, Wash. - Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald is OK with some penalties, but Sunday's performance against the Los Angeles Chargers was a bit too extreme.
The Seahawks set a franchise record with 150 penalty yards on 14 penalties, which include eight separate 15-yard fouls – though one was offset by a Chargers penalty and not enforced.
"We have a spectrum around here on how we ascribe penalties," Macdonald said on Sunday. "One's the cost of doing business, in terms of playing style. We want to play hard and sometimes we make mistakes. And on the other side of the spectrum, is we'd call them selfish penalties. … To have seven personal foul penalties is unacceptable on any level, however you slice it. So that's not us and that's not going to be how we play football around here."
The backstory:
Defensive tackle Jarran Reed said the defense called a players' meeting to discuss the penalty issue this week, among other topics the unit wanted to discuss.
"We just had a real, honest meeting with each other about what we expect and what we want to go through," Reed said. "We hit it head on because that was way too many penalties for us as a team, especially the personal (foul) penalties. Some of the stuff is just the cost of doing business, but the ones that can be avoided, we need to avoid those penalties."
A pass interference call, holding, offsides, and infractions like that are bound to happen in a game, but those weren't the type of penalties that the Seahawks were assessed on Sunday. Seattle was called for one unsportsmanlike conduct, three unnecessary roughness calls, and two roughing the passer penalties as part of their eight 15-yard penalties.
"We got together and it wasn’t a panic moment, but a moment of realization that in the course of the game, we can’t do that," Reed said. "We can’t hurt ourselves, especially in the third and long distance where we can get off the field, we give them a fresh set of downs and then they go down and score. We can’t let any situation on any drive end on that note in terms of penalties or stuff that can hurt ourselves."
The Seahawks were able to survive those penalties against a team as poor as the Chargers. That won't be the case this Sunday when the 4-0 San Francisco 49ers come into Lumen Field for a big early season NFC West matchup.
"We got through to each other," linebacker Ernest Jones IV said. "We talked, we had man-to-man conversations in that room. We have an understanding of what we have to do and what we need to do.
"The guys play hard and we like to be a physical group. Sometimes, just the way the rules are in the league, there’s a lot of stuff that we can’t do. We’re just not there and we can’t just try to do too much or overdo, but the guys are playing hard and it’s a testament. Once you get to the situation, if you think it’s going to be a certain type of flag situation, we’ve got to be smart."
Injury Updates
Defensive tackle Leonard Williams did not practice on Thursday after being limited in Wednesday's practice with an ankle injury sustained in the fourth quarter of Sunday's win over the Chargers.
It's unclear whether the downgrade in status on Thursday is signs of a setback or just a day off as he manages the ankle injury. Williams routinely does get a day off from practice, so it would not be uncommon for that to be the case here. However, it could just as easily be a sign that he didn't handle Wednesday's workload well enough and the team elected to pull back instead.
Mike Macdonald said early in the week that they were optimistic that Williams would be able to play this week.
– Offensive coordinator Brian Fleury said running back Zach Charbonnet won't play this week as he continues his progression back from ACL surgery in February.
It's not a shock as he's only managed to get a few limited practices in since being designated to return from the physically unable to perform list last week. He's still less than eight months removed from surgery.
– Linebacker Chazz Surratt (calf) did not participate either for a second straight day.
Cornerback Julian Neal was added to the injury report as a limited participant with a hamstring injury. Wide receiver Irvin Charles (knee), running back George Holani (ribs), linebacker Ernest Jones IV (rest), and cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett (ankle) were also limited.
Linebacker Tyrice Knight (ankle) and guard Beau Stephens (knee) were upgraded to full participation.
Injury Report:
The Source: Information in this story comes from FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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