Seahawks’ Mike Macdonald scoffs at notion Sam Darnold won’t start

Seahawks’ Mike Macdonald scoffs at notion Sam Darnold won’t start

SEATTLE — If there was any lingering notion that a healthy Sam Darnold could get beat out for the Seattle Seahawks’ starting quarterback job, coach Mike Macdonald put it to rest in decisive fashion on Tuesday.

During an interview with Seattle Sports 710-AMMacdonald was asked whether anything other than an injury between now and the start of the season could lead the Seahawks to go with another quarterback.

“No, you guys are crazy,” Macdonald said. “I respect that you’ve got to ask it, but it’s just a crazy question. It’s just not going to happen. Sam’s our starting quarterback. We love him. He’s doing a tremendous job.”

The question came a day after Darnold delivered an up-and-down performance in the Seahawks’ fourth Organized Team Activity, the first of which that was open to reporters. Darnold’s lowlights while leading the No. 1 offense included two interceptions in a span of three plays during a seven-on-seven period in the red zone, as well as several plays that died with the quarterback holding onto the ball.

Darnold bounced back well from those interceptions, and while Macdonald didn’t deny that he made some mistakes, he also noted that the quarterback got the better of the defense near the goal line during an earlier period.

Macdonald emphasized that it’s still early in the offseason program, and that some mistakes are expected to happen this time of the year.

“God forbid you’re the worst payer of all time because you made one bad throw or one bad decision,” he said. “That is not what we’re trying to build. We want these guys to go prepare the right way and then when they go out on the practice field, go freaking let it rip and then we’ll go fix it … We’ve got time. It’s June 3 … They’re going to get plenty of reps. We’ll get those things fixed.”

Darnold, 27, is coming off a Pro Bowl season with the Minnesota Vikings, who opted to not re-sign him in March as they instead turn to last year’s 10th overall pick, J.J. McCarthy. Darnold led Minnesota to a 14-3 regular-season record after going 21 and 35 as a starter over his first six years in the NFL.

The Seahawks signed Darnold to a three-year, $100.5 million contract after trading Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders. Seattle then drafted Jalen Milroe in the third round and traded Sam Howell to the Vikings, leaving the Seahawks with a three-man quarterback room that also includes veteran backup Drew Lock.

Macdonald has said that the plan for Milroe is to play a few plays a game in specialty packages, and that Darnold will still see well over 90% of the snaps.

The Seahawks’ current quarterback situation has been likened to the one from which Russell Wilson emerged as the starter as a rookie third-round pick in 2012. That year, Wilson won the job despite Seattle signing Matt Flynn in free agency to be the team’s presumed starter. One significant difference, however, is that Flynn’s per-year average of $6.5 million would be less than half of Darnold’s $33.5 million average when adjusted for this season’s salary cap.

Source link

https://seven86news.com

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*
*