Seahawks News: Big Injury Blow, 12 Players Face Mike McDonald’s Wrath & More From Training Camp

The Seattle Seahawks’ 9-8 season was disheartening. So much so, that the Seattle management got rid of Pete Carroll, the guy who got them a Lombardi Trophy! Now NFL’s youngest head coach Mike Macdonald is here to flip the team’s trajectory upside down. A side note: Macdonald doesn’t play around with his players. More on that later.

However, what’s more urgent right now is a significant injury that took place on day 4 of the Seahawks training camp. The veteran DE got himself battered up. His presence in the upcoming training camp is an enormous question mark. The Seahawks beat reporter Greg Bell revealed more about it.

“Don’t see DE Dre’Mont Jones at the fourth practice of #Seahawks training camp.” Said Bell’s post on X. “[Jones] Missed the end of yesterday’s practice with an apparent leg injury after colliding with a teammate in the middle of the field away from the end of an 11-on-11 play. @thenewstribune”

Dre’Mont Jones, who doesn’t have a previous record of any serious injuries, might have pulled a hamstring during training. However, for the HC Mike Macdonald, it was just a “nick” and Jones will be better in no time. While Macdonald doesn’t think his hamstring issue is anything serious, we can only wait to see if he shows up for practice on July 30.

Back in March last year, Dre’Mont Jones signed a 3-year $51 million deal with the Seahawks, making him the richest D-Lineman in the league. However, the Seahawks plan to use him a bit more fluidly in this roster. Macdonald, being the DC at the Ravens previously, has a more exciting and versatile role planned for Jones.

Jones specialized in playing as an outside edge rusher before the season-ending injury to Uchenna Nwosu. Since Nwosu is not there, the Seahawks plan to use Dre’Mont Jones as an inside edge rusher when the situation calls for it. “I can see it being like first down I’m outside, second down I’m inside, third down I’m able to be inside or outside,’’ said Jones. “I don’t want to say directly where I’m going to be at. I just know that I have to be ready for all types of different situations.’’

The good news is that other players are not showing any signs of injury. However, there’s also bad news coming in from the Seahawks’ corner of the NFL. Apparently, Macdonald had to be harsh on a couple of players to get them in line.

Mike Macdonald is as strict as head coaches come

You’d think that an hour and a half would be plenty of time to recuperate from a gut-wrenching workout. For some players, however, it wasn’t nearly enough to gather themselves. Even if they did, they had a meeting to attend after a long day of workouts. That 75-minute break is crucial because the players have to do a compulsory meet and greet with the fans.

Apparently, 12 Seahawks didn’t take it seriously and went inside the facility. When Macdonald saw them leaving the field, it didn’t sit well with him. That’s because for Macdonald, signing autographs for the fans is just as important as the training camp. It didn’t take long for Macdonald to send someone to fetch the boys and send them to the “wall.”

“I mean…” said Macdonald when he addressed the media after his players’ shenanigans. It was a vague expression, and the HC left it open to interpretation. One of the players who was signing the autographs knew that “Mike does not play.” He knew it would be better to do what he’d been told. But some players had to find out the hard way.

Not long ago, the Seahawks’ Head Coach confirmed that the team is ready for more physical practice and is ready to bring the pads out. Macdonald is prepared to see if the players embrace physicality and aggressiveness. However, it’s still far away from being a fully-fledged game because the quarterbacks are still off-limits to the pass rushers. They will be wearing pads and guardian caps on their helmets, but it’s just to give them an idea of what’s about to come in the preseason games.

“I want to feel us, man. I want to feel who’s out there,” said Macdonald and added “I want to feel the physicality, and who’s going to move people. We want to do it smart, we want to take care of one another, but we also got to sharpen it as well. So that’s a challenge. It’d be our first practice in pads. Understanding the expectations, but it’ll be pretty clear when we get out here.”

Maybe all this new experimenting, preparation, and stern outlook to training from the former Ravens defensive coordinator might force the Seahawks to take things more seriously.

What do you think of coaches’ behavior? Let us know in the comments below.