Field Gulls
Coach Macdonald speaks on the third-round pick’s development.
Barring something completely unforeseen, the Seattle Seahawks will be starting Sam Darnold at quarterback in the 2025 season. In the long-term, the hope is that third-round pick Jalen Milroe could/will be the franchise player at the position. If nothing else, Milroe is expected to provide some value to the offense as a rookie, particularly through his outstanding running ability.
Following Friday’s training camp, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald was asked about the performance of all three quarterbacks on the roster—Darnold, Milroe, and the returning Drew Lock—and there’s one line that drew a follow-up question.
“It’s kind of the same thing we talked about [with] the whole team,” Macdonald said. “A lot of great stuff. The command of the system is really impressive. How we’re getting in and out of the huddle, getting in and out of plays. Sam’s movement ability, accuracy, is definitely on display. Guys are playing decisive. Drew can throw the heck out of the ball. Then J Mil has taken a step from where he was in the spring. You can tell all three guys work really hard in the offseason, both, fundamentally and systematically, and it’s exciting. I think all three are playing well.”
Macdonald was then asked about where Milroe has taken that step forward, and he went a little bit more in-depth.
“Confidence,” Macdonald said. “You see a decisiveness in his game. Eyes are in the right spot, more consistently. He could probably go into detail. It just seems to me like it’s a quicker delivery. The footwork is starting to match the routes and the concepts. He’s got a whole career ahead of them to improve, but excited to see him right now, and he’s doing a good job.”
We’re in peak positivity season and padded practice won’t happen until Monday, let alone how he looks in live action in preseason games. Any grand declarations about Milroe’s NFL readiness can’t be made at this point, but it is at least encouraging to hear Macdonald talk about the development of Milroe’s mechanics, which is a part of his game that was considered to be in need of improvement at the professional level. Typically in today’s NFL the starters rarely play but a couple of series (at most) in preseason, so we should anticipate a lot of Milroe snaps throughout August.
The full Macdonald press conference can be seen in the video below.
