Before the Seahawks prepare to head down to Los Angeles for their NFC clash with the Rams, head coach Mike Macdonald spoke with the media about injury updates for key players and other news.
Here's a few things we learned from Friday's press conference:
Injury Updates On Ernest Jones IV & Others
After missing last week's game dealing with a knee injury, Ernest Jones IV will be playing this week, facing his former team.
"EJ is ready if needed, which he is needed," Macdonald said on Friday.
Also back from injury will be receiver Jake Bobo (calf) and cornerback Josh Jobe (concussion).
The Seahawks will be without rookie receiver Tory Horton and center Jalen Sundell, both of whom Macdonald says injured reserve could be a possibility for.
He said they are "working through," Horton's shin injury. "Re-imaged it, found some stuff that's going to keep him out for right now."
As for guard Christian Haynes who returned to practice after being on injured reserve, Macdonald said, "If we decide to bring up Christian (Haynes), I think we have until next Wednesday, so Christian's ready if needed."
Preparing For Rams QB Matthew Stafford
Right now, Rams' quarterback Matthew Stafford is leading the league in touchdown passes and passing yards per game. Part of that has been receivers like Davante Adams and Puka Nacua on the receiving end of those passes, but it also comes from his ability to be successful in no-look passes.
"I think you just have to have an awareness of it," Macdonald said. "If you start chasing certain things and trying to catch him, it gets a little funky. He's one of a kind; there's not a lot of people that do all the no-look passes and can throw it with that type of arm talent. It's cool until this week."
Earlier this week, defensive end Leonard Williams said, "Honestly, he just does some freakish stuff sometimes on film. There are times when he has his back completely turned to the receiver and he's getting sacked and pressured, and he throws the ball over his shoulder without even looking and makes a completion down the field and it is impressive."
Addressing The Offensive Turnover Stats
So far this season, Seattle has committed 16 turnovers and is tied for the second most in the league. The Rams' defensive unit currently has 14 turnovers. Despite Seattle still winning games while committing those penalties, in a game where a top ranked defense will be competing against a top ranked offense, the Seahawks will need to be turnover-free or close to it to win games against good teams.
"We can't be where we're at and go where we need to go if we continue on this pace," Macdonald said. "We know that. I think it's a process over results thing. Right now, the results aren't where we are at. We like the process. We're tweaking it a little bit on how we talk about it in the team meetings, how we talk about it (in) offensive meetings, and some of the drills that we're doing in practice. Those are always the tweaks that we're working at, but it's something that we want to improve."
