Field Gulls
It was “final week of preseason” sloppiness at Lambeau Field, with the Seattle Seahawks (1-1-1) dropping their last exhibition game 20-7 to the Green Bay Packers (2-1). The story coming into the game was rookie quarterback Jalen Milroe starting and playing the entire way, with fans curious to see how he’d perform. There were more downs than ups, with Milroe losing three fumbles on the afternoon and taking five sacks.
The plus for Milroe was throwing his first NFL touchdown to Cody White, which prevented a shutout loss and gave Seattle a little something to cheer for. Milroe was 13/24 for 148 yards and a touchdown pass, along with 31 yards on the ground. We did see the Packers start their first-team guys for a couple of series before it was their turn for the backup/reserve procession, and the offensive line wasn’t a whole lot better against Green Bay’s backups.
We’ll wait to see on some injuries that came out of this game to Seahawks players such as Jake Bobo, Tyler Hall, and Nehemiah Pritchett. Bobo’s possible head injury is the biggest concern given he looked like a roster lock and is important to Seattle’s run blocking.
With preseason in the books, it’s time for roster cuts to be made, a practice squad to be formed, and then it’s preparation time for the regular season opener against the San Francisco 49ers.
The Packers started with the ball first, playing virtually their entire first-team offense except Jordan Love, who had the day off while Malik Willis started against the Seahawks reserves. Willis threw a terrible pass way overthrown for Malik Heath and seemingly everyone else… except Ty Okada! What a pick! A one-handed snag diving for the ball to get the turnover.
Jalen Milroe played with essentially the same guys he’s been playing with throughout preseason, although Marquez Valdes-Scantling was curiously out there with the likes of Dareke Young and Jake Bobo. Seattle picked up one first down before punting, as Packers starting linebacker Malik Willis sacked Milroe on third down. Shockingly, Green Bay’s first-team defense is a little better than Seattle’s third-stringers.
The Packers were backed up at their own 4-yard line on the next drive, but a brilliant grab by first-round receiver Matthew Golden on Nehemiah Pritchett got them out of the hole. Malik Willis used his legs to scrambles multiple times and drive the Packers inside Seattle’s 5. Damarion Williams was dinged for a DPI on a Romeo Doubs fade, then Shaq Griffin was beaten on a slant pretty easily.
Disaster struck for Milroe after Michael Jerrell was quickly beaten by Brenton Cox Jr, who got the strip-sack on third down. Kingsley Enagbare had the recovery and looked to have a touchdown, but he was ruled down on the recovery.
Instead of a 14-0 hole, the Seahawks defense held the Packers to a field goal. Milroe’s next drive, unfortunately, ended in another turnover. He converted a 4th and 1 sneak but lost the ball...
