Pundits and proponents of starting any quarterback but Sam Darnold received an emphatic hush from Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald on Tuesday.
Whether Darnold, 27, was the best option to start for Seattle this season became a hotter topic on Monday after a rough showing in organized team activities. He was intercepted twice in a span of three plays during 7-on-7 drills. A radio host asked Macdonald in an interview Tuesday morning whether he could envision another quarterback starting for any reason other than an injury to Darnold.
“No, you guys are crazy,” Macdonald said in the live call on 710 AM in Seattle. “I respect that you’ve got to ask it, but it’s just a crazy question. It’s just not going to happen. Sam’s our starting quarterback. We love him. He’s doing a tremendous job.”
Signed as a free agent after a resurgent season with the Vikings in which Minnesota went 14-3, Darnold is in line to take over the reins of the Seattle offense from Geno Smith. Smith was traded in March to the Las Vegas Raiders, reuniting him with former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll.
Rather than re-sign Darnold, Minnesota turned the offense over to second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who missed his entire rookie season following knee surgery.
Seattle drafted Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe and traded backup Sam Howell to the Vikings. Macdonald insists the plan for Milroe isn’t to start, but have a role in a unique package of play in each game. He estimated Darnold would still play “90 percent” of Minnesota’s first-team snaps.
The Seahawks emerged as a landing spot and offered Darnold a three-year deal worth more than $100 million. Macdonald said Tuesday he’s not worried about the quarterback not being on the money in offseason workouts.
“God forbid you’re the worst payer of all time because you made one bad throw or one bad decision,” he said. “That is not what we’re trying to build. We want these guys to go prepare the right way and then when they go out on the practice field, go freaking let it rip and then we’ll go fix it … We’ve got time. It’s June 3 … They’re going to get plenty of reps. We’ll get those things fixed.”
–Field Level Media
