Seahawks QB Jalen Milroe throws during Saturday's preseason game against the Cowboys at Lumen Field in Seattle. (Getty Images)
Seahawks QB Jalen Milroe throws during Saturday's preseason game against the Cowboys at Lumen Field in Seattle. (Getty Images)
SEATTLE – The Seahawks’ 17-7 preseason loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday night was likely forgotten by most who watched it by Sunday morning.
Seattle managed just 156 yards on offense and only 27 in the second half on 19 plays, or 1.4 per snap. The Seahawks also had eight penalties for 71 yards and had three others declined.
That none of Seattle’s starters played, of course, means nothing much should be read into the result.
Its biggest meaning will be in giving coach Mike Macdonald some talking points as the Seahawks prepare for what might be the biggest week of their preseason as they prepare for a joint practice in Nashville, Tenn., on Friday with the Tennessee Titans and then a game there on Sunday.
“You know, I’m glad we know now on the things we need to be able to do to take our team to the next level,’’ Macdonald said. “We have a great opportunity to go figure it out. We have a big week coming up. A couple of great practices, opportunities. Then off to Tennessee we go. Have a great practice and play another great game and move forward. That’s where we’re at.’’
What about the operation didn’t he like?
“Just all the things,’’ he said. “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 it’s good to know. Now we know it, so let’s go get it.’’
Here are three other day-after thoughts:
Milroe remains work in progress
As advertised, the Seahawks rotated quarterbacks Drew Lock and Jalen Milroe. Lock started each half and got two series, then was replaced by Milroe, who got two series in each half, as well.
Neither put up great numbers — Lock was 9 of 13 for 40 yards and a TD and one rush for six yards, while Milroe was 5 for 8 for 36 yards and also ran five times for 36 yards.
That neither got to play behind the No. 1 offensive line or with any of the regular starting skill players obviously has to be considered.
But what we saw Saturday is what we have to go on.
Lock led an opening TD drive, including a well-placed throw to Montorie Foster Jr. on third-and-goal at the 5 for the score.
He was also just off on two throws that would have made his day look a lot better — a third-down pass on his second series about 20 yards downfield to Jake Bobo and then an incompletion on a deep route down the sidelines to Foster on third down on his third series.
The Foster throw might have gone for a TD, and the Bobo throw would have gotten Seattle into Dallas territory.
Lock, at least, was pushing the ball downfield. He’s also had a good camp, and has a résumé of 28 NFL starts to let the Seahawks know what they have in a backup QB.
Milroe, a third-round pick last season who has played just three regular-season snaps, remains an unproven commodity.
Milroe wasn’t helped by some offensive-line struggles. And he was smart to run a few times.
But the Seahawks might also feel as if he could have gotten rid of the ball more quickly a few times. And particularly on the sack for a 14-yard loss on fourth down from the 1, a throw of any kind into the end zone is probably better than what happened.
Asked if it seemed as if Milroe held the ball at times, Macdonald said: “There were spots. We have to see what the things (are) that he was seeing. But I think the whole thing, just let’s go take another step, you know? … 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.’’
Quarterback Sam Darnold and the No. 1 offense may get a series at some point in the preseason, but Lock and Milroe figure to continue to get the bulk of the snaps.
The Seahawks wouldn’t find it easy to move on from Milroe just a year after taking him in the third round. But it’s fair to say they’d like to see more from him in the next two preseason games.
Backups on O-line struggle
There’s no secret there’s a gap between starters and non-starters in the NFL. But that gap appears especially wide at the moment with Seattle’s offensive line.
With none of the starters playing, the Seahawks managed just 65 yards rushing on 22 attempts from their running backs going against Dallas’ backups.
The Seahawks also had five penalties called on the offensive line, including two holding flags in the span of three plays during a Milroe series that ended the first half.
Second-year tackle Logan Brown was called for three penalties, including a false start and holding that were declined, and a holding that was accepted.
Backup right guard Christian Haynes, who played 26 snaps, got the best grade of the OLs from Pro Football Focus at 74.9, followed by center Federico Maranges (71.1) and then Brown at 67.9, whose 90.0 run block grade helped make up for the flags.
Fifth-round pick Bean Stephens played 30 snaps and was flagged for a holding penalty that wiped out a sack of Milroe, receiving a grade of 62.4 from PFF, including just 11.3 for pass blocking against 76.8 run blocking.
Waiting to see real Clark
That isn’t meant as a criticism of Bud Clark, by the way, just that not much action seemed to come his way Saturday night despite the fact he was on the field for 45 snaps, the second-most of any defensive player behind only the 47 of fellow safety A.J. Finley.
Clark, a second-round pick out of TCU, played almost exclusively at deep safety. He’s also played substantially in camp in the Nick Emmanwori third-safety role but didn’t seem to do much of that Saturday.
Clark had one solo tackle and two assists and was targeted just once — an incompletion. He also rushed off the edge on a blitz on third down, but Dallas QB Sam Howell ran away from him the other way for a 10-yard gain and a first down.
“He did some good things,’’ Macdonald said. “Some things off the top of my head that I know that we want to talk about and improve. But again, he’s a great example of, ‘Hey, this was your first experience playing a game in a loud environment where we have to communicate.’ The communication needs to improve. I think that’s a wake-up call to our guys (and) examples of — shout-out to the 12s — of being loud and showing our guys that we have to be able to communicate better. Great first experience for him. He’s going to learn from it.’’
The Seahawks will surely try to put Clark in more positions to make plays in the joint practice Friday against the Titans and the final two preseason games to get him ready, especially if Emmanwori isn’t ready for Week 1 of the regular season.