Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said the team still has faith in quarterback Sam Darnold.
Darnold threw two interceptions in the Seahawks’ loss to the Denver Broncos on Thursday Night Football. He has now thrown seven picks to seven touchdowns in five games this year. But in his Friday press conference, Macdonald put down a reporter’s question about a change at QB.
“I think we have a lot of faith in Sam,” Macdonald said.
“Sam’s played great football for us. He’s done a lot of great things this year. We’ve obviously turned the ball over way more than we want to. I feel like there’s things on our end that can help him play better football. And I think he’s definitely part of the solution rather than the opposite.”
Darnold threw two interceptions in Thursday’s game, both in critical moments: in the fourth quarter, down three with 90 seconds left, Broncos cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine undercut wide receiver Tory Horton on an out route.
Then in overtime, Darnold threw a pass for Rashid Shaheed, but Ja’Quan McMillian jumped the route from zone coverage, and the Broncos went on to kick a game-winning field goal.
He finished the night 27 of 51 passing for 278 yards and two picks. So far this season, Darnold has completed 90 of 149 passes for 1,033 yards and seven touchdowns with seven interceptions.
Macdonald said Friday that the responsibility falls on the entire team to help Darnold return to his recent highs, and that they would spend the next 24 to 36 hours figuring out how to do that.
The first part is doubling down on fundamentals, which Macdonald noted are especially important when adversity strikes, as it has for his quarterback.
The second part is doing a better job establishing the run, which has been difficult with 2026 first-round pick Jadarian Price out with a chest injury, and veteran Zach Charbonnet still on the mend from an ACL tear during the Seahawks’ Super Bowl run last year.
The third part is keeping Darnold upright. He was sacked five times Thursday and hit by a defender 17 times. Macdonald said the team has to do a better job of keeping the offense out of situations where they need to use extra pass protectors, because it is too taxing on the offense in the modern NFL.
The first question Macdonald was asked by a reporter suggested a change at quarterback. Toward the end, another reporter claimed that the offense looked better under backup QB Drew Lock when he filled in for Darnold in weeks one and two after Darnold was injured in the first quarter of the season opener.
Macdonald, however, pointed out that the two QBs have different styles, skill sets, and processes. He maintained that the entire team has to improve, and that pointing to one player or one position group is not helpful.
He admitted that Darnold has to protect the ball better and the o-line needs to protect the quarterback better, but the responsibility to get better falls on everyone’s shoulders equally, including the coaching staff.
Macdonald made it clear that he still believes in his QB.
“We just won a world championship with him,” he said of Darnold. “We believe in the guy. We see him every day. We see what he does. We see the plays that he’s been able to make. We see the actual talent. All those things. So that’s where my mind is.”
He said he believes in his staff’s ability to work through problems, and emphasized the mentality that the team has to go through adversity, not around it. He said the team would focus on the things they can control on a day-to-day and moment-to-moment basis, because those things would actually help the team get better.
“One thing that I’m proud of our people is we’re problem solvers,” he said.
“We don’t have an ego when it comes to finding solutions. It’s just what’s best for the team all the time. And that’s how we’re going to choose to operate as long as I get to be the head coach here.”
