Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald turns eyes on offense after years as defensive coach

RENTON — Until now, when Mike Macdonald assessed a practice afterward, he judged it mostly by how well the defense played.

But in his new role as head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, as opposed to being the defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens the past two years, Macdonald can now also be happy when the offense does well.

Or, as was the case Saturday in the second of two rookie minicamp practices at the VMAC, when it at least plays quite a bit better.

The first practice Friday was marked by some offensive sloppiness and overall inability to make many plays in 11-on-11 sessions, due in part to the challenge of players arriving the day before and having to quickly learn some plays.

“You only have so much time to install things,’’ Macdonald said.

So, some leeway for the offense is always given in rookie minicamp.

Still, Macdonald laid down a little of a challenge to the offense before practice Saturday to clean things up.

“He said the biggest thing the defense was doing better than us was communicating,’’ said guard Sataoa Laumea, a sixth-round choice out of Utah. “So that was a big emphasis for today.’’

The message appeared to get through as the offense performed more smoothly throughout. 

That was illustrated by a few highlight plays in the passing game, notably a long completion on a go route from undrafted rookie free agent quarterback Chevan Cordeiro of San Jose State to fellow rookie UDFA receiver Hayden Hatten of Idaho, and a connection on a pass over the middle from tryout quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa to tryout receiver Jesiah Irish of Oregon State and Mount Si, who leapt to get the ball in traffic.

Cordeiro also later hit tight end Jack Westover, a UDFA from Washington and Mount Si, on a short pass that Westover had to dive to get.

“It was good to see them complete some balls today,’’ Macdonald said. “I was a little upset we didn’t take the ball away more on defense … I thought they threw the ball well. Being able to operate the offense with the cadences — we weren’t just snapping on one every time — so operation was solid, and I thought we handled the ball well for sure.”

The offensive line also seemed to play more in sync.

“All the little shifts and motions, we are all on the same page I feel,’’ Sataoa said. “So that was definitely better than yesterday.’’

And while there were almost 30 tryout players present, most of whom are unlikely to be back, one common starting offensive line in camp featured five rookies all on the 90-man roster — Sataoa, who usually played left guard; third-round choice Christian Haynes, who typically lined up at right guard; sixth-round pick Michael Jerrell, who mostly played right tackle but who also saw some time at guard; center Mike Novitsky, a UDFA signee from Kansas; and UDFA signee Garret Greenfield of South Dakota State at left tackle.

That there are no pads and no contact in these sessions makes assessing how lines play largely about things such as communication and handling assignments correctly.

“It’s just cool to get to know them a little bit,’’ Macdonald said. “There’s some things that we’re going to be working on for those guys. But just like with everybody on the team, we’re kind of chasing those details.”

Macdonald expands on practice atmosphere 

With Macdonald taking over after 14 years of Pete Carroll, everything about how he handles games and practices figures to get a laser-like examination early on. 

That led to Macdonald being asked another question Saturday about what kind of practice atmosphere he prefers, and particularly when it comes to the playing of music.

As was the case Friday, music played throughout practice as it also did during the Carroll era, but at a reduced volume from what was usually the case during those years. 

Macdonald, though, again noted that circumstance will play a role in decisions on how practice is conducted. Rookie minicamp, for instance, is typically even heavier on basic instruction than a usual practice.

“We’re working through it,’’ Macdonald said. “Obviously, you want to bring the juice and have energy, and have the music flowing. That’s all good. But you also want to temper that with, ‘OK, we’re trying to get some teaching done at the same time.’ What’s the right volume? How can we communicate the best? Do you want to stress guys? So, I think it depends on the situation and kind of the flow of practice. But we’ll experiment with it and kind of figure it out as we go.”

The set list appeared pretty similar to the Carroll years. Macdonald said he had no hand in those decisions.

“I have no idea who’s picking the playlist,’’ he said. “When guys get back, we’ll incentivize it, and guys that are making sweet plays, I’m sure they’ll be picking playlists and setting things up, too, as long as it’s clean.”

Notes

• Seattle also had quarterback Kory Curtis of Gannon in camp on a tryout basis. But Cordeiro and Tagovailoa — the younger brother of Tua Tagovailoa of Miami — got all of the snaps during team drills. Many NFL teams are holding their rookie minicamps next week and if Tagovailoa doesn’t sign with Seattle he is likely to take part in another team’s camp next week.
• The Seahawks reportedly filled one of the two spots they had available on their roster by signing nose tackle Buddha Jones of Troy University, who took part in mini-camp as a tryout player. The signing was reported first by NFL writer Aaron Wilson. Jones was listed at 6-foot-1, 307 pounds on Seattle’s roster this weekend. A native of Tallahassee, Fla., Jones began his career at Kent State.

• The Seahawks will continue their offseason program with the veterans returning for the continuation of phase two, during which the offense and defense cannot work together in team drills. Phase three, in which 11-on-11 drills are allowed, will begin May 20, with the first of what will be 10 OTAs (Organized Team Activities).