Post Game Press Conference – Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald

SEAHAWKS HEAD COACH MIKE MACDONALD

POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE

September 15, 2024

 

MM: Man, what a heck of a football game. We knew the game was going to come down to the fourth quarter. We didn’t expect it to come down to the fifth quarter, but whatever it takes. Again, just proud of the fight, the resiliency, just the confidence, the support, the togetherness of our football team. So, that’s a really good football team we just played. Tough. Obviously, they ran the ball really well. They stopped the run, but our guys came through in the end. Then, just proud of our guys. When we needed to make a play, it seems like on all three phases, the guys made plays without venting techniques or whatever. Just kind of played through the scheme, played through their fundamentals, and we closed it out in the end. So, just a great, great football game, and we’re excited to get back home.

 

Q: You had a bunch of drops, not a lot of help in the run game, but Geno [Smith] got it done. What did he show you today?

 

MM: I thought Geno played a dynamite game. I thought he was decisive. The ball was out fast. I thought we had a great plan. Yeah, we had a couple of drops, but we’ll clean those up. I mean, I’m not sure what the numbers are, but they’re probably pretty dang good.

 

Q: He had a bunch of game-winning drives last season, had the game-tying and winning drive today. What does that say about his poise in those situations?

 

MM: Sounds like that is who he is. So, let the tape speaks for itself, and I’m glad he’s on our side.

 

Q: Julian’s [Love] blocked field goal, was that a designed play or something he was able to figure out there?

 

MM: No, they don’t just invent – that was the play. That’s the field goal rush at that time, without getting into the strategy involved. But he made a heck of a play. Just a heck of a play. It’s something you practice all the time, and finally when you have the opportunity, he goes and executes it. So, that was big-time.

 

Q: Dee Williams dropped a punt last week, and then this week, caught one when he was hit. How big that was?

 

MM: He played a dynamite game. He did a great job. We told you we had confidence in him. He has had such a great offseason, but we had a big return in the first half, caught the ball there. I don’t know who got blocked into him. He’s going to have to make those plays moving forward, but he’s the man for the job.

 

Q: Tyler Lockett, he gets one or two targets for 60 minutes and then the game is on the line –

 

MM: That’s him. I mean, you knew it coming in. You knew his reputation. Learning who he is as a person, who we absolutely love, but there’s something special about him where he comes alive in those clutch moments, man.

Again, it’s just, we love him, but just a great job by Tyler.

 

Q: What did you see on that third down stop in overtime?

 

MM: I felt the rush. I didn’t know who it was at that time. I think Derick Hall had a really good rush. They did some good things on offense in the first half on third down, so we had to make a couple of adjustments. They were hitting the tight ends, so we had to adjust a little bit of our rush plan. This is what happens. It’s the NFL. Teams are going to have good plans. You’re going to have to kind of understand how they’re attacking you and then kind of move and shake from there. So, the guys did a great job of kind of going to the next things and playing some of the plays that they are running against us. I thought our rush started to come alive in the second half. It would have been great to get them on the ground more, but Jacoby [Brissett], he’s a really good player, too. He understands – I told you he was elusive, and he got rid of the ball in some of those critical situations.

 

Q: Why do you feel like you weren’t able to get much going in the ground game?

 

MM: Well, I mean, on our end, I don’t know. I’d have to look at the tape and see what’s happening on some of the blocks. If it’s not there and you’re able to throw the ball, then whatever it takes to win the game. So, I thought we did that. But we’ll go back to the tape and figure it out. They have a really good front and do a good job in the run game. The numbers back it up.

 

Q: How much of a decision was there, or was it tough before you kicked the field goal to tie it up when you had the fourth-and-1 there, about maybe going for it as you sent the offense out there?

 

MM: The one where we took the delay?

 

Q: Yeah.

 

MM: Yeah, we wanted to take a peek and see if there was an opportunity to go for it. We weren’t confident enough in the situation at that point, so we felt like, ‘Take the five,’ and [it was] still a pretty good, manageable field goal to go tie it up.

 

Q: Was getting Jaxon [Smith-Njigba] that involved kind of par for the running game, there was a lot of short stuff to him kind of replacing the run game almost?

 

MM: Yeah, yeah, that’s a good point.

 

Q: In the second half, were you kind of surprised how well they were able to pick up some big runs in the running game?

 

MM: I wouldn’t say surprised; I was disappointed. I mean, look, we can’t be giving up 180 yards rushing. There’s plenty on tape. We had pictures on the first half, losing some leverages and not playing some runs the right way. So, we’ve got our work to do on that front. We have a good team coming to town that can run the ball, so we’re going to have to be better moving forward in the run game. So, a lot of work to be done on that front. Guys know that. But in the last two drives, it felt like we saw some of the plays they had gone to over in the game and the guys knocked them out, and that’s what you are going to have to do to win. If you just keep banging your head against the wall, then it’s going to be tough sledding out there.

 

Q: You told us a while ago that you really wanted Geno to be the voice of poise, I think was your wording, in chaotic-adverse situations. You’ve had a few of those so far. How have you seen him handle those?

 

MM: He’s been incredible. He’s been the guy that he’s been since we got here in February. There’s some points where we communicate one way or another, and he’s right there in lock-step. This is a great example, this game. Hey, when the offense needs to pick the defense up, they did it. When defense could help the offense by getting a critical stop because we weren’t able to get the ball out of negative territory, we got the stop. So, that’s why you have to play complementary football, and you need your leaders to show up in those critical moments. He did that, and I thought defensively, the guys did that as well.

 

Q: How did you feel about the rookies – Byron Murphy, Tyrice Knight and Christian Haynes in this game?

 

MM: Christian, I know he got in there the third series. I don’t know how much more he played after that, so we’ll see. We ended up going with AB [Anthony Bradford] for the majority of the game. It’s good to get Christian in there, a guy we have a lot of confidence in. But in order to develop guys, you need to get reps. So, sometimes if it doesn’t go your way, that’s okay. He’s a guy that has been working really hard. He deserves an opportunity to go earn his reps. Expect that to keep going. Byron, I’m not sure. I felt our run game at times was really good. At times, I felt we weren’t so good, so I’m going to have to get back to you on the tape. Tyrice Knight, again, is a rookie and getting his first time in there. I’m not sure how many plays he made. There’s a couple that are on the top of my head that we want to play a little bit better, but again, a guy we have a lot of confidence in. He’s playing a lot; he’s got a ton of reps under his belt, so I thought this was a solid start for him. I’m sure he’ll go back, watch the tape, easy fixes. The game will start to slow down for him as he gets more experience out there in the regular season.

 

Q: How thin did it get at linebacker with the injuries, guys going in and out?

 

MM: I felt like the only issue was – not that it was an issue, but the only true backup we went to was Tyrice [Knight] with Bake [Jerome Baker] not being able to finish the game.

 

Q: Is he okay, Baker? Do you know?

 

MM: Yeah, I think he’s going to be alright.

 

Q: How about Boye [Mafe]?

 

MM: Boye, same thing. He’s got a knee contusion. I think he just got banged in the knee. I think it might have been the last drive before overtime or the overtime drive. Last drive before overtime. So, we’ll see with all that stuff. We’ll see how it shakes out.

 

Q: What do you think about how Jaxon played overall, those career highs for him and about everything?

 

MM: I didn’t realize it was career highs. That’s pretty awesome. He’s a great player. He’s got incredible hands. All the underneath stuff. I think he is an underrated deep threat. There’s a play, I think it was in overtime, where he held onto that ball. The guy had a pretty good hand on the ball in transition, and to be able to secure that ball in a critical moment, that’s the one that stuck out with me. So, he’s a guy that we’re going to be relying on moving forward. Yeah, he’s a great player.

 

Q: Getting the field goal at the end of the first half, it looked like that was pretty efficient.  

 

MM: I’m glad you brought that up. That’s a lot of teamwork going into that drive, getting the stop on defense, coming back. Offense kind of understand – saving your time-outs operationally so you can use all of them, and you can use the whole field. Then, the field goal operation is a point of emphasis this week, so I’m eager to watch the tape and see how we blocked them on field goal. But the operation was great. J-My [Jason Myers] had a great ball. Probably a game-changing type series.

 

Q: Is there any thought there on using the first timeout after that first stop that you get on defense?

 

MM: In those situations, you kind of ask yourself, ‘Hey, which side would I want to be on?’ I felt like it was the right move to kind of make them go conservative, and then whatever time remaining we could kind of do our thing on offense.

 

Q: DK [Metcalf] had a couple drops, but was a key part of the rest of the game, especially the game-tying drive. Can you talk about how he showed some leadership?

 

MM: Yeah, it’s a great point. He started the game off with us on the deep pass down there when they were in zero and kind of got us off and running on offense. I know he had a couple of drops, but coming back, making some critical plays – the one where he leaped over the guy was incredible. Then having a couple of big-time catches in the fourth quarter and overtime, so I’m not sure what his numbers were, but it felt like he had a great game.

 

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