The Seattle Seahawks’ plan to use rookie Jalen Milroe as a change-of-pace quarterback has yielded 4 yards and a lost fumble so far in the 2025 season. But Seattle coach Mike Macdonald said the Seahawks aren’t giving up on the project.
“We have more plays for Jalen,” Macdonald said. “… I think part of the reason we’re having success right now on offense is that we’re throwing our fastballs and we’re running our offense. We’re running all of our plays, and Jalen’s package is a part of that and teams have to prepare for it. But I think that helps us. And we’re executing really well in practice and they look good in practice, and you start getting conservative and not calling stuff because you’re scared or whatever, it’s like we don’t want to live like that.”
Milroe has taken three snaps this season.
The rookie QB made his first appearance on Seattle’s first possession of the season, when he took a shotgun snap and ran for a 1-yard gain in a 17-13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sept. 7.
Milroe returned against on Sept. 21, when he ran for 3 yards in the third quarter of a 44-13 victory over the New Orleans Saints.
In a 38-35 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Oct. 5, Milroe took a shotgun snap and swept left with running back Kenneth Walker III while No. 1 QB Sam Darnold ran right. Darnold has been on the field for each of Milroe’s plays.
Milroe ran an option play with Walker, but his pitch was high and behind the running back, who got only one hand on it. Tampa Bay recovered the fumble.
“We didn’t execute that play real well,” Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak said. “… I got to do a better job of just making sure we’re on the same page because we didn’t do a good job of executing that one. That’s not Jalen. That’s everybody, the whole offense, including me.”
Milroe was disappointed with how his play against the Buccaneers turned out.
“I thought it was a great play call that Coach drew up, because we maxed it during the week,” Milroe told the Tacoma News Tribune. “We failed to execute that play.”
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The Seahawks acquired Milroe in the third round of the NFL Draft on April 25 after he threw for 5,678 yards and 39 touchdowns and ran for 1,257 yards and 32 touchdowns in his final two seasons at Alabama.
Seattle chose Milroe even though it already had signed Darnold to start and Drew Lock to back him up in March in free agency. The Seahawks hoped to utilize the rookie as a dual-threat QB.
Kubiak said Milroe probably hasn’t had as many snaps as the Seahawks initially intended because of Darnold’s performance.
“We’ve been building on things since the spring,” Kubiak said, “and I think it probably says more to the things that Sam’s been doing really well at. But we’ll continue to develop that part of our offense, and there’s plenty of reps we’ve gotten in practice that haven’t showed up yet in the game, and those are things that we’ll just keep developing as the season goes.”
The Seahawks play the Jacksonville Jaguars at noon CDT Sunday at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida.
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