Takeaways from Seattle Seahawks 17-7 preseason loss to Cowboys

SEATTLE - Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald was not particularly happy with his team's performance in their preseason opener, a 17-7 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday night.

"Obviously it's disappointing to lose the game. Any time you run up to anything competitively, we're trying to win," Macdonald said. "Right now our process needs to improve. That's really the biggest takeaway is probably in both phases, on offense and defense, our operation is not up to par and how we're finishing plays is not up to par. So that'll be a focus moving forward, but it's good to know now."

The Seahawks scored on their opening drive on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Drew Lock to Montorie Foster Jr. and then stalled out much of the rest of the night. Meanwhile, the Cowboys out-gained Seattle by a 338-156 margin with Camden Brown catching a pair of touchdowns.

"Just all the things," Macdonald said of the shortcomings. "How we get calls in, how we take the line, how we motion, how we shift, how we get lined up on defense, how we communicate. "All those things need to take a very big jump very quickly. But's it's good to know. Now we know it, so let's go get it."

On the plus side, practically no one that played on Saturday night is expected to be in a starting role come Week 1 against the New England Patriots. The game against the Cowboys was heavily geared to reserves and players fighting for roster spots to get opportunities.

Next up is a practice with the Tennessee Titans on the road on Friday in Nashville before game two of the preseason next Sunday.

Here are the takeaways from the loss to the Cowboys:

Tyrice Knight could easily be a starter.

It wasn't all bad.

Linebacker Tyrice Knight was a starter before for the Seahawks and easily looked capable of handling the role again should he be given the opportunity.

Knight led Seattle with 10 tackles on Saturday night, and also had a thunderous hit to break up a pass to tight end Michael Trigg.

"He's the best player on the field on defense today, for sure. So that was cool to see," Macdonald said.

Macdonald said Knight played "probably more than we bargained for" due to some injuries at the inside linebacker position. Early in training camp, Macdonald said that they need to find a way to get Knight on the field more this season.

"We always have the 'next man up' mentality," Knight said. "Everybody just always comes to work every day. For me, I’ve been having a great camp. I’m trying to stack days and just let it play out like it’s supposed to play out."

The last time Knight did play significant time for Seattle, he forced a pair of fumbles that turned into touchdowns for DeMarcus Lawrence in a victory over the Arizona Cardinals last season. The Seahawks appear to just like Drake Thomas a touch more for the second linebacker spot alongside Ernest Jones IV.

Knight got the chance to call the defense with Jones and Thomas not playing on Saturday night.

"It felt good," he said. "I don’t really get to call the defense, but it felt good getting the calls, (getting) everyone lined up and everyone ready to go for every snap. Everyone’s looking at me waiting for me to give the command. That gave me a good feeling today.

Drew Lock, Jalen Milroe trade series at quarterback.

With Sam Darnold not participating in the first preseason game, the quarterback duties fell to Drew Lock and Jalen Milroe.

Lock started the game and played two series, then Milroe came in for the rest of the first half. Lock then re-entered in the third quarter before Milroe took over again to finish the game.

"Good enough to put up seven points," Macdonald deadpanned when asked about the quarterback play. 

"Got to put up more points. We need to operate better. There's some good things. It's great to have tape against another team now. In a different type of setting where the pass rush is live, you're up against the play clock. All these different things that you have to be able to play out are great learning experiences for everybody, quarterbacks included."

Lock led the only scoring drive for Seattle on the opening possession of the game and showed that he's still firmly the No. 2 option for the team. Lock was 3-for-4 for 20 yards and a touchdown pass to Montorie Foster Jr. on the opening drive of the game, and finished the night going 9-of-13 for 40 yards.

"Finishing in the red zone was probably the plus there," Lock said of the opening drive. "Good to put together a good set of plays. Moved the ball well. Ran the ball well. When guys got the ball in their hands, they made plays with it.

"Montorie had a great catch in the end zone, and we finished. I think that's the key takeaway or what we need to work on is just finishing in the red zone."

Lock just missed another big strike for Foster, who had dusted former Seattle cornerback Derion Kendrick for a potential long touchdown only to have the ball sail beyond his fingertips.

"He should have made two today if I don't overthrow him on that ball on the left sideline," Lock said. "He's had a great summer."

Meanwhile, Milroe showed some of the same struggles he showed last year. After losing three fumbles in a preseason game against Green Bay last year, and another in the regular season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Milroe fumbled a snap in the second quarter. That didn't result in a turnover, but it's still a concern.

"We have to see what the things that he was seeing," Macdonald said. "But I think the whole thing, just let's go take another step, you know? Was it there? Let's encourage them to go rip it. I think some great things that Jalen did was extend plays with his legs, something that has been a point of emphasis with him. It was great to see him do that today. That really helped us."

Milroe completed 5-of-8 passes for 36 yards and scrambled five times for 36 yards in the game. However, he was also sacked four times in the game, including a 14-yard sack on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line.

"This is what the preseason is for," Milroe said. "There are always things we can clean up, there’s always things we could do positive, and even if we came out victorious, there’s things that we can still improve on and get better at. That’s the exciting part about the preseason and getting the opportunity to play today. The biggest thing is just to build on today and going onto our next opponent."

Macdonald happy to have Devon Witherspoon contract done.

While the deal has yet to be officially signed, the Seahawks reached an agreement on a six-year extension with cornerback Devon Witherspoon on Saturday that will keep him under contract through the 2031 season.

"Spoon is all the things," Macdonald said. "He's a great person. He's a great football player. He's a great teammate. He's a great leader. Those are the guys we want to be here. It's kind of similar to (Jaxon Smith-Njigba). These are foundational people to our team, and I'm extremely excited to get that foundation laid where we know Spoon is going to be here for the long haul. 

"We're also excited for the opportunity to reward him. You know, this is a contract that we feel like he's earned, and we should celebrate it as well, but it's also really exciting to know that we have foundational players that are going to be part of our team here for a long time."

Witherspoon didn't speak to the media about his deal after the game, but did tell the team's broadcast that he was glad to have it done.

"It feels good," he said. "Long time coming, but we had to get it done, though. I’m thankful. All glory to God. Shoutout to John (Schneider) and all the people that are upstairs for making this happen. I’m just grateful, man."

The deal is reportedly worth $132 million in new money, which makes him the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL at $33 million a year. However, the contract extending over six years with the extension kicking in after his fifth-year option season in 2027 actually makes the cost a pretty reasonable over the life of the deal.

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