News and notes from Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald following Monday's practice.
Two days after a preseason loss to the Cowboys, the Seahawks were back on the practice field Monday looking to get better after a loss in which head coach Mike Macdonald was disappointed with the way his team operated.
Macdonald said after Saturday's game that the biggest takeaway was that "Our operation is not up to par, and how we're finishing plays is not up to par. That will be a focus moving forward, but it's good to know. 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. 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.
Macdonald said his team needs to "take a very big jump very quickly" when it comes to how the team operates, and that process began with a Monday practice that featured a lot of work for the starters, who were held out the preseason opener.
Here are four things we learned from Macdonald's Monday press conference:
**1\. Macdonald saw some good performances when he reviewed the game tape, but not enough to get the team a win.**
Two days after Macdonald expressed disappointment with how things played out in a 17-7 loss, Macdonald had a similar view of the game having reviewed the film, noting there is a good opportunity to grow coming out of the game.
"Same feeling, honestly," Macdonald said. "There's a great opportunity for us to understand what Seahawks football is and what isn't, and what it's going to take to play for us. We had some great meetings this morning. It's good for our team. We need to see those things, and I think we are going to grow from it. It's a lot of the things we said right after the game. There is a lot of good stuff, too. A lot of great individual play, but not enough great individual play to earn a better result.
"It's really everybody. It starts with me, goes to the coordinators, down to the guys with the green dot, to how the information kind of trickles down, how we sub, all of our coaches on the sidelines. It was a good wakeup call that we got to get better."
**2\. Jadarian Price is working his way back.**
Rookie running back Jadarian Price has been sidelined for some of camp and did not play in the opener due to what Macdonald classified as a minor issue, calling it lower body soreness, but after going through a pregame warmup Saturday, Price was back in uniform taking part in Monday's practice.
"He's just like any other return to play guy," Macdonald said. "He's on his return plan. It's good to see him out there."
Price was one of two backs to return to action Monday along with Jacardia Wright.
In other injury news, Macdonald said he had no updates on the timetables for safety Nick Emmanwori and cornerback Julian Neal.
**3\. There were positives from quarterbacks Drew Lock and Jalen Milroe on Saturday and also room to grow.**
With starters getting the night off, Drew Lock and Jalen Milroe split playing time fairly evenly, and both had positive moments, but Macdonald also sees room to grow. Lock, who started the game, leading the Seahawks to their only touchdown on the opening possession of the game, completed 9 of 13 attempts for 40 yards and a touchdown, while Milroe was 5 for 8 for 36 yards while also rushing for 36 yards on five carries.
"I think there is room to grow, but I think both had solid performances, frankly," Macdonald said. "It wasn't much for Jalen to come to life. There are better decisions he could make, a little more decisive in a couple situations, but that's going to be every quarterback. I was pleased with our performances. I felt like it was a good start."
**4\. The gameday experience is different for Macdonald when he's not calling the defense.**
While Macdonald is the team's defensive play caller in the regular season, he had defensive coordinator Aden Durde handle those duties on Saturday, something he has done in past preseasons, and Macdonald can notice the difference when he's not handling that big job.
When asked about linebacker Tyrice Knight's standout performance, Macdonald said, "I feel like I actually watched the game. It's funny when you are not calling the plays you probably see more things. Yeah, very similar to what we saw right after the game. He played really well. Played really great, did a really great job. I think he had like a tackle every two plays or something. Crazy."
As for how his day is different when he's not calling plays, Macdonald joked that he's "a lot nicer. More talkative with my wife, for sure. It's a pretty drastic change. If I wasn't calling plays in a regular season game, I would still be really involved with what we are doing, so I imagine I'd probably feel the same. I really don't know what it feels like."