Graham Bensinger’s recent interview with Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald made headlines not just for its content but for how the content was obtained — making Bensinger himself part of the story.
As a result, Bensinger posted the following statement on Twitter:
“Due to ongoing media requests for comment, I want to clarify the timeline surrounding a portion of our recent interview with Mike Macdonald that has received attention this week.
“The complete Mike Macdonald interview, including the conversation now at issue, was provided to Seahawks PR last Wednesday, September 16 — five days before it was published on YouTube Monday. During that time, no concern was raised about the exchange, and we were never asked to remove it. For the last couple of years, our typical practice with long-form interview releases has been to include some of the pre-interview conversation.
“Coach Macdonald reached out to me directly yesterday morning expressing concern. I immediately told him we would remove that portion, and we did. Unfortunately, it had already been clipped from our interview by online outlets and circulated elsewhere. I told Coach that, in hindsight, I regretted allowing that exchange to be included and that it was my error in judgment.
“I have tremendous respect for Coach. We spent significant time together in Seattle, and I came away impressed not only by what he has accomplished in such a short period of time, but by the person he is. The last thing I want is for one exchange to overshadow that story. I also have great respect for Sean Payton, whom I had the opportunity to profile previously.”
It will be interesting to see whether the Seahawks agree that the full conversation, including the segment regarding the 2024 brouhaha with the Broncos, was sent to them on September 16. Also, it feels like Bensinger is opting to blame the Seahawks for not spotting an interaction that, as Macdonald has said, was never meant to be aired.
Besides, why was Bensinger giving the thing to the Seahawks in advance anyway? This isn’t Hard Knocks; it’s an independent interview that does not need to be reviewed or approved by the subject of the interview before publication.
And while the situation has helped remind everyone that Graham Bensinger continues to operate in an increasingly crowded media space, this specific incident could complicate his efforts to attract willing participants from the NFL ecosystem for future sit-down interviews.
Seahawks Clips
Despite his immense success in a short time with one of the 32 most coveted jobs in football, Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald is still learning.
As it relates to his recent sit-down with Graham Bensinger, Macdonald has learned that nothing is off the record unless both sides to the conversation agree that it is. Macdonald also has learned to assume that every mic is a hot mic, and that every camera is capturing images.
He’s also learning to be careful about who he trusts, and about when and where he lets himself get comfortable.
More broadly, Macdonald is learning why Bill Belichick behaves the way he does. If you say as little as possible, the chances of saying something you come to regret will be minimized.
Earlier this week, Macdonald was asked about his decision to submit to interviews in the aftermath of winning the Super Bowl.
“If someone’s interested in talking and you feel like it’s an honest process, then why not?” Macdonald told reporters on Monday. “I don’t have a long relationship with Graham [Bensinger], but I was really impressed with how they did their business. There are other podcasts that you had prior relationships with folks, and I respect the work that they do, and we have prior relationships that you want to honor. It’s probably that simple.”
As the owner and operator of a media outlet, I’ll never complain about coaches, players, and others from the NFL universe providing compelling content. Plenty of it comes from the press conferences to which coaches are required to submit. When they stray beyond that, they need to be careful.
Careful about what they say. Careful about who they say it to. Careful about who they trust.
As to Bensinger, he won the battle of capturing a compelling sound bite. He may have lost the broader war, however. By possibly operating under the premise that it’s better to seek forgiveness than to request permission — and by clinging to the technicalities of invoking off-the-record protection — Macdonald surely won’t be inclined to sit down with him again. And, if Macdonald does, he’ll be far more guarded.
Others may have similar trepidations about submitting to interviews and/or allowing themselves to be charmed into getting too comfortable.
For Macdonald, he got way too comfortable. One source not connected to either the Seahawks or Broncos deemed it “reckless.”
Complicating matters for Macdonald is that he now reports to ownership that didn’t hire him. And while winning is ultimately all that matters, early impressions matter, too. And it’s one thing for outsiders to question Macdonald’s judgment and discretion. If Vinod, Neeru, and/or Neal Khosla feel a little differently about Macdonald after this incident, it could come back to haunt him if/when the wins aren’t as consistent or convincing.
Broncos head coach Sean Payton got his chance to address Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald’s comments about a 2024 disagreement between the teams at his Wednesday press conference.
Macdonald said earlier in the day that he called Payton to apologize after comments he intended to be off the record about Payton getting upset about the Seahawks’ use of fan videos from training camp to prepare for a 2024 game went public. Payton said he and Macdonald are good and said he called Seahawks General Manager John Schneider “shooting before I started looking” because he didn’t know how the Seahawks had obtained the videos.
The videos were posted on social media and Payton said that the incident wound up in a positive way because it allowed the Broncos to address videotaping of their practices.
“Talking with them, it allowed us to figure out how to handle our training camp relative to videos,” Payton said. “I don’t think anything was intentional by fans. We did some research online of what was available and that’s kind of how we changed our policy.”
Payton called the entire episode “eye-opening” in terms of how information from open practices can circulate and both sides will likely be sticking to official game tape to prepare for their Week 6 game.
Seahawks running back Zach Charbonnet was eligible to return to practice this week. Coach Mike Macdonald, though, said the team will not open Charbonnet’s practice window this week.
Charbonnet remains on the reserve/physically unable to perform list after tearing the ACL in his left knee on his fifth carry in the divisional round of the 2025 playoffs. He underwent surgery on Feb. 20.
Macdonald said Friday that Charbonnet’s return to practice is “coming soon.”
The Seahawks rank ninth in rushing, averaging 129.5 yards per game without Charbonnet, but with rookie Jadarian Price and Emanuel Wilson taking up the slack.
Charbonnet ran for 730 yards and 12 touchdowns on 184 carries in the 2025 regular season.
Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald confirmed that his comments about Broncos head coach Sean Payton in a recent interview were meant to be off the record during his Wednesday press conference.
In an interview with Graham Bensinger, Macdonald recounted Payton getting upset with the Seahawks for using fan-recorded videos from Denver’s training camp to prepare for a Week 1 game between the teams in 2024. Macdonald likened it to a “Cold War” with Payton referencing Spygate and the Seahawks countering with a threat to sue him if he went public with any accusations.
Macdonald said on Wednesday that the comments were made during a conversation before he thought the interview was being recorded and said there was a “certain type of understanding” about their use. Macdonald declined to discuss any conversations that might have taken place about how the video made it to the public, but said he reached out to Payton with an apology.
“It was something I didn’t intend to come out for public use,” Macdonald said. “Thought it was the most appropriate thing to reach out to Sean and really just apologize to him for having that be public when it wasn’t meant to. . . . It’s a lesson learned. I gotta be better in that moment for understanding I’m responsible for what I say no matter the circumstance.”
Macdonald said Payton was “awesome” in their conversation and the two men will have a chance to face off for the second time as head coaches in Week 6.
The plan heading into the week was for Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold to practice on Wednesday and nothing changed over the last couple of days.
Head coach Mike Macdonald confirmed that Darnold will be on the field as he works his way back from the glute injury he suffered in the season opener. Macdonald said that Darnold will not handle a full workload, but the team hopes he’ll be able to do more as the week progresses.
“He’s not going to take every rep today and then we’ll kind of ramp it up as the week goes,” Macdonald said at a press conference.
Macdonald said that the decision about starting Darnold against the Commanders will come down to “does he feel good enough to play” and that the team would like to make a decision before heading into the weekend about whether it will be Darnold or Drew Lock piloting the offense.
The Seahawks have announced a few roster moves on Wednesday.
Seattle has signed safety Rodney Thomas to the 53-man roster.
The club placed guard Anthony Bradford on injured reserve as a corresponding move.
Thomas was elevated to the gameday roster for each of Seattle’s first two contests this season. He’s been on the field for 99 percent of the club’s defensive snaps so far, recording four total tackles with a pair of passes defensed.
Bradford did not play in Sunday’s win over the Cardinals after being listed with knee and hip injuries.
Seattle has also signed Uso Seumalo and Malick Meiga to the practice squad.
While Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels is out for at least this week’s game against the Seahawks, there is not yet a clear timeline for his recovery.
Head coach Dan Quinn told reporters in his press conference that there isn’t an update yet on Daniels, as he is seeing another specialist for his dislocated left elbow on Wednesday.
Daniels re-injured his elbow on the last play of the second quarter in Sunday’s eventual loss to the Cowboys.
Marcus Mariota is set to start for Washington against Seattle this week. But beyond that, Quinn wants to have something more definitive before commenting on the club potentially making a move to bring in another QB.
“I’m not going to assume on the timeline,” Quinn said. “Once I know, I’ll share it with you to go. But I think just for me to say, this many weeks or not, I’d rather wait on that and let’s get all the info. But that said, I’d also say, yeah, we have a lot of confidence in what we do and what we’ve been doing. ... But as far as a timeline, or what, or who else to add, we’ll wait on that.”
Additionally, Quinn has ruled out safety Nick Cross for Week 3 after suffering an internal injury against the Cowboys.
Right guard Sam Cosmi is in the concussion protocol. Linebacker Frankie Luvu, tight end Chig Okonkwo, and defensive tackle are also rehabbing this week.
The story of the day on Tuesday featured the unexpected disclosure of a behind-the-scenes beef between the Seahawks and Broncos. And while the whole thing was eye opening (and likely not intended for air), one specific line caught my eye.
Regarding Broncos coach Sean Payton’s assertion that the Seahawks had obtained training-camp footage through improper means, Macdonald said, “He thought it was a Michigan thing where we had a plant.”
That’s a reference to the 2023 Connor Stalions scandal in Ann Arbor, where Stalions developed a mechanism (in violation of NCAA rules) to scout future opponents with the goal of figuring out their sideline signals. In this specific context, Payton presumably suggested that the Seahawks sent someone to Broncos training camp to record their plays.
Beyond the fact that Macdonald’s journey included a year on Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan staff (2021, as defensive coordinator), the 2024 Seahawks employed former Michigan assistant Matt Weiss as an outside contractor. And while Weiss’s coaching career has imploded due to criminal allegations of widespread hacking, it’s fair to point out that the 2024 Seahawks had a distinct Michigan component.
That’s not to say Payton’s allegations had any merit. Faced with a threat that the Seahawks would sue the Broncos if Payton went public with his suspicions of shenanigans, the issue died. And it would have remained unknown if Macdonald had spoken about it into a hot mic.
It will be interesting to hear what Macdonald and Payton have to say about it today, when they meet with reporters for their usual Wednesday press conferences. Regardless of their likely efforts to downplay the situation and move on, the Seahawks have self-applied the kind of scarlet letter that will give the coaches of the teams they beat the same kind of excuse that plagued the Patriots during their run of dominance.
Pressed by owners as to why the Seahawks keep beating their teams, coaches can resort to the notion that the Seahawks cheat. Even without a shred of evidence to support that claim.
If/when that happens, it will trace to the fact that Macdonald got way too comfortable — and said way too much about a topic that otherwise would have never come to light.
Meanwhile, the Broncos host the Seahawks in 22 days, for a Thursday night game. Which will create a motivation for multiple media outles to fully explore the rabbit hole that, as of Tuesday morning, no one even knew existed.
Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald launched his career as a head coach with a win over Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos. The game from September 2024 moved back to the front burner on Tuesday, thanks to footage from Macdonald’s recent interview with Graham Bensinger.
The excerpt, which wasn’t released when the first clips and quotes began to be circulated, relates to a squabble that emerged regarding the use by the Seahawks of fan-generated video from Broncos training-camp practices. It got ugly, as Macdonald told the story to Bensinger.
It could get ugly between the Seahawks and Bensinger’s camp. As we understand it, the conversation was not intended by Macdonald for public consumption. The Seahawks, we’re told, didn’t even know that portion of the “more off than on” the record discussion had been recorded until Tuesday morning.
The situation is another reminder that everything is potentially on the record, absent a clear agreement between the parties that it’s not. And while Bensinger’s people didn’t breach any journalistic rules by using it, the fact that it was posted could make future subjects more leery about agreeing to be interviewed.
On or off the record, others are befuddled by Macdonald’s decision to air gripes from two years ago. And there’s a question as to whether the various things Macdonald said to Bensinger (regarding Payton and others) are the product of arrogance or naiveté.
“What’s the point?” said one source connected to neither the Seahawks nor the Broncos. “It was reckless.”
The Broncos declined comment on the situation. Undoubtedly, Payton will be asked about it when he conducts his usual Wednesday press conference.
Either way, the kerfuffle adds a little extra sizzle to a spicy Week 6 Thursday night game between the two teams.
