Seahawks Clips
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.
The Week 6 game between the Broncos and Seahawks has gained a new subplot.
During an appearance on In Depth with Graham Bensinger, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald recounted a story involving Broncos head coach Sean Payton from his first season in Seattle. The Seahawks played the Broncos in Week 1 that year and Macdonald said that the team’s staff collected fan videos posted to social media from Broncos practices as part of their preparation because they were “public knowledge.”
The Seahawks won 26-20 and Macdonald said Payton “got wind of” how they used the videos in the middle of the season. Payton called Seahawks General Manager John Schneider and, per Macdonald, “lost it.”
“He basically threatened to come out publicly and do a whole Patriot Spygate type of thing,” Macdonald said. “I’m sitting there like, ‘Oh my god. We didn’t cheat.’ They thought it was a Michigan thing where we had a plant and the whole thing. So we had to counter with him and say, ‘If you come out with this, we’re going to sue you because it’s not true.’”
Macdonald said that Payton eventually dropped the issue, but that it felt like the two teams were involved in something more geopolitical than football until that happened.
“It was like the Cold War,” Macdonald said. “He’s like, ‘I’m going to hit the button. I’m going to hit the button.’ ‘Well, we’re going to hit the button.’ None of us hit the button.”
Macdonald said he and Payton subsequently crossed paths at the Scouting Combine, but the issue didn’t come up. Payton will likely be asked about his version of events at some point before the Week 6 meeting between the teams.
The 2023 season featured more than a few serious quarterback injuries. The 2026 season has started with four of 32 starters suffering injuries during the first two weeks of action.
In Week 1, the Seahawks lost quarterback Sam Darnold for at least one game with a glute injury. (He could be back in Week 3.) In Week 2, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams pulled a hamstring and is week-to-week. In the late-afternoon window, Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels dislocated his left elbow, again. On Monday night, Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart sustained what is believed to be an MCL sprain.
More recently, the next man up in Chicago (Tyson Bagent) has landed in the concussion protocol.
The situation highlights an ever-present risk when it comes to playing football. Quarterbacks get hit, in all sorts of ways — after weeks of practice in which they’re insulated from contact.
As Mike Tomlin said in Week 1, the inability to hit quarterbacks in practice put defenses at a disadvantage. The quarterbacks are at a disadvantage, too; they’ve gone from bubble wrap to fair game.
On Monday’s Let’s Go!, North Carolina coach Bill Belichick (who is far chattier than he is during games) suggested that limited padded practices make it harder for the blockers and, in turn, the quarterbacks.
“The offensive line has really gotten shortchanged because they’re not in pads very often,” Belichick said. “Basically 20 times a year, 10 in training camp, 10 during the regular season. And I think 20 practices is just not really enough for those guys to develop their skills. And the defensive players are ahead of them and offensive lineman gets beaten and you know who’s getting hit. And so I think one thing that would really help the situation would be some type of developmental program for offensive linemen who don’t play. Not saying guys that have played 16 games, but talking about guys that don’t play, that need that development coming into the NFL and type athletes they face and pass protection and blitz pick[up] and all that. It’s so involved and so difficult that I think that would help the quarterback’s longevity as much as anything.”
Even with a highly competent offensive line, a quarterback is always one play away from taking a big hit, and possibly from being injured. And nothing can change a team’s fortunes faster than losing their starting quarterback.
UPDATE 9:10 p.m. ET: Actually, the number is five. Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray suffered a concussion on the third drive of the Week 1 win over the Packers. Carson Wentz replaced Murray, who has been cleared for Week 3.
Word over the weekend was encouraging about quarterback Sam Darnold’s recovery from the glute injury that kept him from playing in Week 2 and head coach Mike Macdonald brought more good news on Monday.
Macdonald said that Darnold is expected to be on the field when the team returns to practice on Wednesday.
“Right now the plan is for him to be out there in some capacity, and we’ll go from there,” Macdonald said, via the team’s website. “How much? We’ll see from here to Wednesday what that number is, but right now that’s the goal.”
The answer to the question of how much work Darnold is able to do will be tied to his chances of being cleared to play against the Commanders in Week 3. Drew Lock handled things well in Sunday’s rout of the Cardinals, so the 2-0 Seahawks will not have much reason to hurry Darnold back if the best course of action is a slower buildup to game action.
Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels dislocated his left elbow during Sunday’s loss to the Cowboys and is now trying to sort out how long he will be out of action as a result of the injury.
Daniels went for imaging on the elbow on Monday and head coach Dan Quinn said at a Monday press conference that he will now solicit opinions from specialists about the next courses of action.
Daniels suffered the same injury during the 2025 season and missed four games before returning to the lineup. He aggravated the injury in his return and then missed the final four games of the season. It’s not clear if the past injuries will play a role in how Daniels and doctors choose to treat Sunday’s dislocation.
Quinn said on Sunday that his team will “rally around” backup quarterback Marcus Mariota and confirmed on Monday that Mariota will start against the Seahawks in a Week 3 home game.
