The Seahawks have turned the ball over 12 times in their last four games, and while they won three of them, last week's close loss the Rams, which featured four Sam Darnold interceptions, showed how costly turnovers can be against top opponents.
Darnold knows that, everyone on the team does, and now they know they need to go about cutting back on those turnovers this week in Tennessee and for the rest of the season.
"It's unacceptable," Darnold said Thursday. "We understand as an offense, we have to be better. I have to be better at protecting the football and we're doing everything that we can in practice for when the game comes to try to take care of the football a little bit better."
Darnold has been one of the NFL's best quarterbacks this season, and one rough outing doesn't change that, but he also knows he needs to clean up the issues that led to his four interceptions against the Rams.
"For me, I've got to go through my progressions, listen to my feet, and be able to not necessarily get stuck on one or two guys and be able to move on in the progression," he said when asked about those turnovers. "Especially with the guys that they have on defense, they did a really good job disguising and it's just about keeping my eyes down the middle of the field and just moving from there. Keeping my eyes down the middle of the field, seeing the shell a little bit better and just getting to the
right spots with the ball."
While Darnold is understandably going to be hard on himself, his teammates had his back after Sunday's game, with several players strongly showing their support, most notably linebacker Ernest Jones IV, who said, "Man, Sam's been balling. If we want to try to define Sam by this game—man, Sam's had us in every (expletive) game. So for him to sit there and say, 'Oh, that's my fault,' no it's not. There were plays that defensively we could have made, there were opportunities where we could have got better stops. It's football, man. He's our quarterback, we've got his back, and if you've got anything to say, quite frankly, (expletive) you."
Players having Darnold's back was another demonstration of how connected this team is in all three phases, and it was a gesture that Darnold really appreciated.
"All those guys in the locker room, we've all put a lot of work in, and when things don't necessarily go the way that I want them to, especially on game day, the reason that it sucks for me is because I feel like I'm letting those guys down and I feel like a lot of the guys in the locker room feel the same way," Darnold said. "So that energy and the things that he said meant a lot to me for a guy to have my back like that. But again, I know that the guys are going to go fight no matter what, no matter what the case is, and so I'm going to do everything that I can to put my best foot forward and go execute at a high level."
Having spent eight seasons in the league with five different teams, Darnold has seen enough around the league to know that what the Seahawks have in their locker room isn't the norm in the NFL.
"It's not every locker room that's like that," he said. "I've been around some really good locker rooms and some locker rooms that aren't necessarily as close. But I would say this locker room is at the top for sure. Just the way that everyone comes together, and the way that they fight for each other. I think it's very evident with the way that we play football on Sundays."
Said receiver Cooper Kupp when asked about Jones and other players standing up for Darnold, "I just think it speaks to that connection. We've talked about Mike (Macdonald)'s message to us from Day 1, it is 12 as One. We're all together in this thing. Ernest is a guy that a lot of people in this room and a lot of people in this building have a ton of respect for and rightfully so. It shows you that there's that connectedness and there's that understanding that we win games and we lose games together. It's the most cliche thing ever, but in football, it's just the most true thing. There's going to be games where we're going to need the defense to pick us up. We almost got away with one there where offensively we weren't on top of our stuff as much as we should be. We almost won a game that we had no business really being a part of the way that we were playing offensively. There's going to be games like that and there's going to be games where offensively we're able to get things going and we've got to pick up the defense. It's just part of how football works. It was really cool by Ernest, and it means a lot for the guys here and shows that we believe what we've talked about."
The Seahawks continued their week of practice on Thursday November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks quarterback Drew Lock (2) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks quarterback Jalen Milroe (6) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks quarterback Jalen Milroe (6) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks quarterback Drew Lock (2) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett (28) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks wide receiver Rashid Shaheed (22) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks defensive tackle Byron Murphy II (91) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks defensive end Leonard Williams (99) and defensive tackle Byron Murphy II (91) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks defensive tackle Byron Murphy II (91) and defensive end Leonard Williams (99) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori (3) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori (3) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks wide receiver Cooper Kupp (10) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks wide receiver Cooper Kupp (10) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III (9) and linebacker Ernest Jones IV (13) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks guard Grey Zabel (76) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks center Doug Kramer Jr. (68) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks cornerback Derion Kendrick (1) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks guard Anthony Bradford (75) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks guard Grey Zabel (76) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks center Doug Kramer Jr. (68) and guard Bryce Cabeldue (77) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks defensive end Leonard Williams (99) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence (0) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence (0) and guard Grey Zabel (76) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks defensive tackle Byron Murphy II (91) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks defensive end Mike Morris (94) and guard Grey Zabel (76) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks linebacker Patrick O'Connell (52) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks linebacker Uchenna Nwosu (7) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks nose tackle Brandon Pili (95) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks defensive coordinator Aden Durde at practice on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks defensive end Leonard Williams (99) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence (0) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks defensive tackle Byron Murphy II (91) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks linebacker Uchenna Nwosu (7) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks safety Ty Okada (39) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks safety Coby Bryant (8) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen (27) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon (21) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks cornerback Shaquill Griffin (24) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett (28) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks cornerback Josh Jobe (29) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks safety Coby Bryant (8) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks running back Velus Jones Jr. (32) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III (9) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) practiced on Thursday, November 20 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
