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SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 07: Sam Darnold #14 of the Seattle Seahawks passes during the NFL 2025 game between San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field on September 07, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
RENTON, Wash. - The debut of the new Seattle Seahawks offense didn't exactly go to plan on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers.
The promise of a productive rushing attack never fully materialized, the passing game was relegated to a one-man show in Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and the scheme itself was a bland offering that featured basically no play-action and many snaps out of shotgun.
"Just finishing. Having the ability to go finish and go win the game. That’s something that we would love to do better," offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak said on Thursday. "Plenty of things that we have to work on as an offense that we got to get better at. I feel really proud about how the guys played in those two, two-minute drives at the end of the half. But plenty of things that we have to clean up."
Seattle ran just 50 plays overall, gained only 230 yards, and were 3-of-10 on third down. Additionally, they ran just two snaps of play-action in the game, which had been a selling point for the offense over the offseason.
"We need to action more. We need more movement. So we'll call it and execute it when called," head coach Mike Macdonald said on Monday.
Those two plays resulted in a 21-yard completion to Jaxon Smith-Njigba and a 5-yard scramble by Sam Darnold.
"That's definitely something that we can utilize more, and our guys are good at it," Kubiak said. "Sam's really good at it. I think we're going to be a good running team."
Zach Charbonnet and Ken Walker III were held to a combined 67 yards on 22 carries on Sunday. There were productive moments, but there was also long stretches of ineffectiveness too.
"There's a handful of runs that didn’t go our way on Sunday, and a handful of runs went our way," Macdonald said. "Sometimes it goes like that, we want them to go more our favor than not. It's not for a lack of effort, and we've done a lot of great things throughout the preseason, which you saw in all three games. Let's stick with it, we're doing a lot of great stuff. Let's just keep getting better."
Then with the passing game, Darnold threw 23 passes on Sunday with 13 of those passes headed in the direction of Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who caught nine balls for 124 yards. The rest of the roster combined for just seven catches for 26 yards.
"After looking back at it, that's where the ball should have gone," Macdonald said. "We have plays designed for other people as well, but you're looking at a combination of Jax playing at a high level, being in a position where Sam can pull the trigger wherever he’s at in the progression. But the ball will find its way around. I'm convinced of that."
Darnold agreed that Smith-Njigba was just the right target for the ball on those plays.
"I'm just going through my progressions, going through my reads, and 58 percent of the time it told me to go to Jax," he said.." That’s just how it worked out. A lot of games are different. Sometimes they're going to do things to take Jax, take Coop (Cooper Kupp), take some other guys away from us. And so other guys got to be on their P's and Q's in terms of being able to beat one-on-one coverage. That’s what we're looking at this week, and it's going to be a fun challenge for us."
The end result was an offensive output that was just too anemic in its debut outing. Seattle had just six plays all game that picked up at least 10 yards.
"I think overall, having only made 53 offensive plays," Kubiak said. "If there's not enough snaps, you have to get more snaps by staying on the field more on third down and not turn the ball over. Those numbers go up when you get more turns."
Under Pete Carroll, the Seahawks considered passes of at least 16 yards and runs of at least 12 yards as "explosive plays." Seattle still tracks explosive plays under Macdonald, but not quite the same way. However, by any measure, the Seahawks didn't create nearly enough.
"We have a number we’re shooting for on a per-game basis of explosive plays that we want to get on offense. We didn't hit that mark on Sunday," Macdonald said.
"You have a sweet play and it's 15 yards and you're not going to count it? I think that's nitpicky, so it's more like, you know it when you see it type of play."
The Seahawks still believe the offense has more in the tank and that it will begin to show starting this week.
"Despite the result on Sunday, I feel like all the guys are in a really good place," quarterback Sam Darnold said. "We feel like we have a good football team and we're ready to go. We'll be ready to go by this upcoming Sunday."
Seahawks add CB Shaquill Griffin to active roster.
With cornerback Devon Witherspoon missing a second straight practice due to a knee injury, the Seahawks signed veteran Shaquill Griffin off their practice squad to the 53-man roster.
Wide receiver Cody White had his veteran contract terminated and he was immediately re-signed to the practice squad. As a veteran, White did not have to clear waivers and was able to move to the practice squad.
Griffin was elevated from the practice squad for Sunday's loss to the 49ers, though he did not play in the game.
It would not be a surprise for White to be in uniform for Sunday's game in Pittsburgh. White is one of the team's kick returners and can play multiple special teams units as well. However, he only played six snaps on offense and five on special teams last week, so if Dareke Young is back healthy that could impact his status for Sunday as well.
White's dad, Sheldon, is also the Steelers' director of pro scouting.
Additionally, the Seahawks brought in left-footed punter Avery Book for a tryout on Thursday.
Seattle plays the New Orleans Saints next week, who have a left-footed punter in Kai Kroeger. Book could be added to the practice squad next week to give the team's returners reps catching and tracking punts that spin the opposite direction.
Devon Witherspoon, Julian Love miss practice.
The Seahawks were already going to be without rookie safety Nick Emmanwori this week against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The secondary may be even more depleted based off of Thursday's injury report.
Cornerback Devon Witherspoon missed a second straight practice with a knee injury, and safety Julian Love didn't practice due to a groin injury after being limited on Wednesday.
Witherspoon briefly remained down on the field after colliding with safety Coby Bryant on Josh Jobe's interception of Brock Purdy in Sunday's loss to the 49ers.
Meanwhile, Love was a limited participant in practice on Wednesday before being held out of Thursday's practice. Love was in uniform during team stretch prior to the start of practice, but apparently didn't participate.
Sometimes, when a player is limited on one day and then unable to practice the next day it can be an indication that the injury occurred in that day's practice. That's what happened last week with wide receiver Dareke Young when he tweaked his hamstring in Wednesday's practice. It's unclear if that's the case with Love, or if it was an injury coming from Sunday's game.
Witherspoon and Love joined Emmanwori and defensive tackle Jarran Reed (back) also did not participate in practice on Thursday. Like Love, Reed was a limited participant on Wednesday before being held out on Thursday.
Young returned to full participation on Thursday after being limited on Wednesday. Additionally, wide receiver Jake Bobo was removed from the injury report as it seems he's cleared concussion protocol.
Also, linebacker Uchenna Nwosu was a full participant for a second straight day as he looks to return to action after offseason knee surgery.
Injury Report:
The Source: Information in this story came from FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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