RENTON — As he had two other times this season, rookie quarterback Jalen Milroe played one play for the Seahawks on Sunday.
But where his other two plays had fairly innocuous results — gains of 1 yard against the San Francisco 49ers and 3 against the New Orleans Saints — Sunday’s proved to be a pivotal moment in a way neither Milroe nor the Seahawks hoped in a 38-35 loss to Tampa Bay.
With the Seahawks trailing 6-0 with 6:31 left in the second quarter, Milroe entered the game.
Sam Darnold had just completed a pass to tight end AJ Barner for 10 yards to give the Seahawks a first down at the Bucs 38.
Then Milroe came on.
And as had occurred the first two times, Milroe went behind center in the shotgun, while Darnold split out wide.
read more buccaneers 38, seahawks 35
Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin Jr. (14) is taken down by several Seahawks in the second half Sunday afternoon at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington, on October 5, 2025.
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Against the 49ers, Milroe kept a shotgun snap and went up the middle for a gain of 1 on second-and-six on the first series of the game.
Against the Saints, Milroe lined up in shotgun and kept the ball for a gain of 3 on a first-and-20 play in the third quarter.
Against the Bucs on Sunday, as the snap neared, Darnold went in motion behind Milroe and running back Kenneth Walker III, who was lined up directly behind Milroe.
As Milroe took the snap, he and Walker each headed to the left while Darnold continued to the right. The intent was to try to create some confusion in Tampa Bay’s defense.
That didn’t seem to work as Milroe got hemmed in quickly.
As he was hit at about the 42 he pitched it to Walker. The pitch was part of an option play with the hope being that if defenders collapse on Milroe he can get rid of it to Walker, who may have a clear path to a big gain.
That didn’t work either as defenders were also closing in on Walker.
The play turned disastrous as the pitch was high and behind Walker. The ball went off his right hand and to the ground where Tampa Bay’s Tykee Smith recovered at the 41.
On Monday, coach Mike Macdonald indicated the fumble was the fault of both players.
“The play didn’t go our way,” he said. “Could have made a better pitch. Could have had a better pitch relationship (between both players).”
The Bucs moved quickly down the field to take a 13-0 lead with just over two minutes remaining in the first half.
The Seahawks would rally to take the lead twice in the game before giving it up at the end. But the lost fumble created a deficit that meant they had to be almost perfect on offense the rest of the way to win.
If some were left wondering if the risk-reward of putting in a rookie for one play at a critical juncture of the game was worth the reward, Macdonald isn’t one of them.
The Seahawks have talked of having a package of plays for Milroe ready to go each week to take advantage of his dual-threat ability. And Macdonald said that will continue.
“We’re executing really well in practice,” Macdonald said. “It looked good in practice. You start getting conservative and not calling stuff because you’re scared or whatever, we don’t want to live like that. … We want to take care of the football. That’s number one. But we want to stay aggressive, too.”
Macdonald said the Milroe package fits with the team’s offensive philosophy of trying to take shots when they are there.
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“I think part of the reason we’re having success right now on offense is that we are throwing our fastballs and we’re running our offense and we’re running all of our plays and Jalen’s package is a part of that,’’ Macdonald said. “And teams have to prepare for it and I think that helps us.’’
“… You’ve got to know when he’s in the game and if he’s not a quarterback. Yeah, you’ve got to practice (defending) those plays (as an opponent).’’
It’s also a way for the Seahawks to try to get some experience for a player that they took 92nd overall, with a pick the team got by trading Geno Smith to the Raiders, with the hope that he will eventually be a big part of the team’s future.
When Milroe was drafted, many observers around the league wondered if he might compete with Darnold for the starting job. Macdonald made clear from the start that Darnold was the starter.
Darnold’s solid play from the beginning of the offseason program only reinforced that there was no competition for the job.
Milroe showed he had some room to grow in the preseason, when he was sacked six times in three games and lost three fumbles.
But an oft-stated football cliché is that any backup is only a play away from seeing action.
In Milroe’s case, with Drew Lock as Darnold’s backup, he’s two plays away.
Macdonald also made it clear the team will continue to find ways to get Milroe on the field.
“We have more plays for Jalen,” Macdonald said. “It’s a combination of, we really like the plays that we have for him and we’re doing a lot of great things on offense when Sam is the only quarterback in the game, too. So we are trying to balance that, as well.”
Injury report
While Macdonald said he didn’t want to use it as an excuse, the injury issues on defense undoubtedly factored into Tampa Bay’s 38 points and 426 yards.
The good news is that four of five defensive players who were not available by the end of Sunday’s game could be back for this week’s game at Jacksonville.
The ominous news is that there are no guarantees.
Macdonald said cornerback Devon Witherspoon (knee) and defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence (quad) could return to practice this week after sitting out against the Bucs.
“The plan is for them to practice at some point middle-to-late in the week and then we’ll take it from there,’’ he said.
Macdonald said Witherspoon had imaging done on his knee and indicated it did not reveal any serious issues for what has been termed an MCL bruise.
“It’s fair to say he’s making progress positively,’’ Macdonald said of Witherspoon, who has missed three of the past four games.
Safety Julian Love sat out with a hamstring injury suffered against Arizona and may also be back this week.
“He’s probably a little bit later timeline,’’ Macdonald said. “Probably going to go to the end of the week (before it’s known if he can play).’’
Cornerback Riq Woolen was also sidelined Sunday in the third quarter with symptoms of a concussion.
Macdonald said Woolen is in the concussion protocol but is “working through it quickly from what I understand … hoping he practices on Wednesday, so we’ll see.”
Rush end Derick Hall may miss this week after suffering an oblique injury, Macdonald indicated.
“Let’s call it week to week at this point,’’ he said of Hall. “Probably not looking at an IR stint, so we’ll see.”
Going on IR would mean missing four games. As the Seahawks play two more games and then have their bye, they are apt to try to keep Hall on the active roster and assume he can make it back at some point over the next four games.
Bob Condotta: bcondotta@seattletimes.com. Bob Condotta is a sports reporter at The Seattle Times who primarily covers the Seahawks but also dabbles in other sports. He has worked at The Times since 2002, reporting on University of Washington Husky football and basketball for his first 10 years at the paper before switching to the Seahawks in 2013.