'A Lot Of Good Things' Came From Seattle's Second Preseason Game

After focusing on the fundamentals this week, head coach Mike Macdonald felt the Seahawks made improvements from last week despite a loss to the Titans.

Aug 23, 2026 at 11:05 PM

Seahawks.com Writer

Seattle's preseason game last week against the Dallas Cowboys hadn't gone as head coach Mike Macdonald would have wanted it to. The Seahawks as a whole, offense, defense and special teams, didn't play "up to par," as Macdonald put it after that loss to Dallas.

And although Sunday's preseason game against the Titans resulted in a 19-16 loss, Macdonald said there was improvement on all fronts.

"The bright side is I really do feel like our team got better this week from the work that we got in practice, and I thought we did a lot of great things, especially earlier in this game, which is what we're looking for," Macdonald said following the game. "I think we took a step. I think we're improving. I think the important thing for our team is that we have to shed an expectation about where we need to be right now. I think the focus needs to be about how fast can we improve on a daily basis, and our guys have had that attitude. So through that lens, I think it was a successful week. But ultimately, we want to be able to win these games. But we definitely made an improvement from last week, so let's keep going."

On the defensive side of the ball, they combined for a total of three sacks, an improvement from last week's zero. The defense also had four quarterback hits, 76 tackles and one forced fumble.

"The things we said we wanted to improve on from last week, I think we did those things," Macdonald said. "So operation-wise just how we get in and out of the huddle, how we take the line, all those kind of before-the-play type of things that we wanted to improve on, I think we did, which is great. I thought we played physically. I thought we rushed the passer really well. It was good to see the run game get off a little bit in the first half. Be great to run it better in the second half. A lot of good things; a lot of good things."

Linebacker Chazz Surratt who had one sack and a forced fumble said, "I just think the communication, the pre-snap, getting aligned, quick, getting set, getting our stances. I think that's a big thing. We kind of lacked that in areas certain times last week, but this week, I felt like everybody got the calls in quick. We were able to communicate to everybody quick, and everybody was just going out there to play ball after that."

The offense which was led by Drew Lock in the first half, saw two different players reach the end zone against the Tennessee Titans' defensive starters. Lock went 12 of 14 for 103 yards and one touchdown. Running back Jacardia Wright had a long, 69-yard touchdown run and Elijah Arroyo had a 36-yard touchdown reception.

Lock said, "I mean, guys hustling to the ball. That was a big thing for us is breaking the snap or breaking the huddle with urgency, getting up to the ball, putting the pressure on the defense, crisp with our motions, crisp with our shifts. I feel like we, like you said, we made a big emphasis on that this week and took steps forward. We can still be better with some Cadence things. That starts with us in the huddle and then being able to go out and execute all 11 and being able to do that, but definitely took big steps in the operation standpoint."

Although the starters didn't play, their presence was surely felt throughout the game. Last week, Macdonald talked about how he kind of wanted his team to get a penalty for celebrating too much, something that happened last year in the preseason, and this week, they did just that. After Wright's 69-yard touchdown run, Seattle's bench made its way to the end zone to celebrate with Wright, incurring a 15-yard penalty in the process.

"I think our vets deserve a really big shout-out today," Macdonald said. "They had great energy. It's one of those deals where you would much rather tell them to 'whoa than go' in terms of the excitement and support for the guys. They did a phenomenal job. They had great energy. I think the guys that played really appreciated it."