As is the case with almost all preseason games, it's a chance for rookies and players further down the depth chart to put good things for themselves on tape. Seattle's rookie draft class, along with some undrafted rookies did just that, two of them coming up with touchdowns to contribute to the 23-23 tie against the Las Vegas Raiders. The score of the game though is far less important than what the rookies did on Thursday night at Lumen Field, though.

"Those boys played physical," third-year cornerback Devon Witherspoon said. Like coach Mike Macdonald alluded to earlier this week, most starters, including Witherspoon did not play.

He added, "They came to show up, they came to hit. And then they didn't waver when they were put into tough positions… They stood up when we needed them to. That was a big part of it."

This past week, receiver Tory Horton has been generating a lot of buzz at practice, impressing with the catches he's making and how often he's making them. He came into Thursday's matchup showing why there's been hype around him, playing just the first half, finishing with 31 yards on three receptions and his first NFL touchdown. Horton also saw action on punt return on Thursday evening too.

Quarterback Drew Lock, who threw Horton the touchdown pass said, "You hate to say it this early, but what he went out and did tonight was everything I expected of him to go out and do based on how he's been performing in training camp. Just a really, really solid player, runs the right routes, goes up and gets contested catches and when the ball gets in his hand he makes the plays. It's high praise for a rookie. He's still got a long way to go, but man, he's on the right track and works hard. If he keeps working hard and keeps doing what he's doing is can be a really good football player."

While the touchdown for Horton was "good," he was impressed by how his fellow rookies went out and executed. "We kind of all came together when we first got there and we all had our little chat and we were like, man, we got to go out there and improve ourselves. And I feel like that's something that we did today and we all know that we have to get better and we still have to execute at a higher level and today was a great learning curve. It wasn't a perfect game and going against the starters, it was great for us. That was a great way to get our feet wet for our first NFL preseason game. And we have a lot of stuff to learn from, but we all know our corrections and it's a great group of guys. The rookies are excited to learn from the vets. So we're hungry to just get better."

Grey Zabel, who started at left guard, had a solid first few plays during Seattle's opening drive, thriving in pass protection, run blocking but also already knows where he can grow.

"Being a rookie you have to understand there's going to be wins and then there's going to be learning experiences," Zabel said. "So I learned every single play and thought we had a good first few drives and we were able to move the ball a little but and protect the quarterback."

Elijah Arroyo, along with Nick Emmanwori, both saw limited playing time, but both shone in the few series they did play.

On Emmanwori, Macdonald said, "We want him to get his feet wet, go affect the game as best he could. From when he was in there we felt him. We sent him on a couple pressures and did a good job. Did a good job. I think it was a couple series and then we felt like that was good."

Arroyo said his first NFL experience felt surreal, especially playing against players he used to watch.

"It was great to take in that moment," Arroyo said. "Once I got in there, I had confidence [that I was] prepared and I belong here."

"I think the rookies had a really good day overall. Obviously we have a lot to improve on, but you know that's why we're here. We want to get better and the guys in our rookie class, they're doing a really good job with that."

Jalen Milroe played the entire second half of the game and showed off speed, ability to run and his arm going 6 of 10, for 61 yards and rushing for 38 yards.

"Number one, what a dream come true to play my first NFL game in Lumen Field," Milroe said. "I think the best thing is for all of us to just regroup, but also just build on this game. I think that's so important. As you go on any journey, you have to start somewhere. So now with that, you're able to look upon what we did well, what we didn't, and just try to build upon that, just get 1 percent better as we have this opportunity."

On Milroe's night as a whole, Macdonald said, "I thought Jalen played well. I thought he made good decisions. Operation-wise there are some things we want to be a little cleaner on. Throwing the ball accurately, throwing it on time, and then when it wasn't there, extending plays with his legs I thought was really cool. Made some good decisions in the quarterback-driven game with how they're playing their edges… So not getting greedy and handing the ball off and having effective runs, I thought that was good stuff for not really having prepped them for them."

Robbie Ouzts, who was one of Milroe's teammates at Alabama was another rookie who also had a solid day, playing in his new role as a fullback. He had a catch for 17 yards, picked up key blocks, including one on four-time Pro Bowler Maxx Crosby and another one that paved the way for the Seahawks' first touchdown on the night, a 24-yard run by running back George Holani.

Macdonald said they definitely felt Ouzts when he was on the field, "Just like, hey, what is that, your second play as an NFL player and you just go execute at a high level and pop an explosive run? That was pretty cool."

Holani adding, "Shout out Ouzts man. He's a big physical fullback. He does everything right in practice from run, blocking to pass protection, whatever it is. We can depend on that guy to go out there and get the job done."