The Seahawks are back to work this week after a "mini bye" of sorts coming off a Thursday night win in Arizona. Roughly a quarter of the way through the season, the Seahawks are 3-1, tied with the 49ers and Rams for the best record in the division, and up next is a tough test against another 3-1 team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But before we turn our attention to that game, it's time once again to open up the mailbag and answer some questions from you, the fans.

As always, thanks to everyone who asked questions this week, and apologies if I wasn't able to get to yours this time around. And remember, the mailbag is always open for submissions at Seahawks.com/mailbag.

@FiveStarGam1ng asks, "Best defense since the LOB?"

A: Presuming you're defining the LOB era roughly as the time that Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor and Richard Sherman played together, then I would say that, yes, this current defense, assuming it continues at anything close to this level the rest of the season, will be the Seahawks' best since the LOB era, and by a pretty good margin.

The defense that John Schneider and Pete Carroll built last decade set a bar that will be tough for any team, this one included, to top, starting in 2012 when Seattle led the league in scoring defense, starting a four-season streak of leading the league in that stat, making the Seahawks the only team to accomplish that in the Super Bowl era. And in 2013, the Seahawks led the league in total defense, scoring defense, passing defense and takeaways, then went on to dominate the highest scoring offense in NFL history, holding Peyton Manning and company to eight points.

So having said all of that, it's not really fair to those teams, or to the current one, to compare this defense to the very best of that era, at least at this point, it is pretty clear that what the Seahawks are doing on defense right now under Mike Macdonald is pretty impressive in its own right.

In 2016, the last year Thomas, Chancellor and Sherman all played a full season together—both Chancellor and Sherman suffered season-ending injuries midway through the 2017 season, with Chancellor's neck injury ending his career—the Seahawks finished third in the NFL in scoring defense and fifth in total defense on the way to another NFC West title. Since then, the Seahawks have finished outside of the Top 10 in both categories every season. In Macdonald's first season in Seattle, the Seahawks finished 11^th in points allowed and 14^th in yards allowed, but made a big turn in the second half of the season, and they look to be picking up where they left off, if not improving, heading into their second season running Macdonald's defense.

Granted, it has only been four games, so there's still a lot of work to do, but the Seahawks currently rank second in points allowed, 13^th in total defense, sixth in sacks and seventh in takeaways. The Seahawks are stopping the run, generating pressure with their front four, are tough to throw on, and given the talent and depth the Seahawks have at all three levels, it all feels very sustainable, if not something that could get even better as the year progresses.

@arvidinseattle.bsky.social asks, "Please share your thoughts on the evolution of Byron Murphy, and if possible, how will Nick Emmanwori's return impact overall defensive strategy?"

A: The Seahawks had high hopes for Byron Murphy II when they selected him in the first round of last year's draft, and while his numbers didn't stand out during his rookie season, he was able to impress coaches and teammates with his play. And heading into this season, just about anyone who asked about Murphy predicted that the defensive tackle out of Texas was poised to break out in Year 2. And sure enough, Muryph's strong play is showing up on the stat sheet this year. Through four games, Murphy has 2.5 sacks, 16 tackles, two tackles for loss and five quarterback hits, a big uptick in production after having half a sack, 36 tackles two tackles for loss and one quarterback hit in 14 games as a rookie. Again, Murphy didn't play poorly last season, but his role often called for him to take on double teams and do other things that didn't result in a lot of statistical production.

"Last year the questions were, 'Why isn't the production there?'" Macdonald said. "We said he was playing great and the production's going to come. Now the production's on its way, we were right, he's a great player. He's doing the same things, the inputs, playing hard, studying his butt off, preparing, he's been a great teammate, all those things are a great formula for having success on our team and in the NFL."

As for Emmanwori, we don't know yet for sure that he'll play this week, but the fact that he practiced on Monday indicates his return is coming soon. As we saw in training camp, then in his very brief debut, which included for a tackle for loss, Emmanwori is a playmaker who will make things happen for the defense. In terms of strategy, the assumption is that Emmanwori's return would lead to the Seahawks playing more "big nickel" defense with him coming on as the fifth defensive back instead of a third cornerback. I'd imagine exactly how much he plays and how the Seahawks use him will vary depending on opponents, but he will definitely have a significant role when he does return.

@segdeha.com on BlueSky asks, "Seems like the run game still isn't where the team wants it to be. It has shown flashes, but what are coaches and players saying about what needs to change to get it rolling?"

A: The Seahawks rushed for 155 yards and averaged 4.4 yards per carry in their Week 4 win over the Cardinals, both numbers being season highs, so there was improvement, but as the question notes, the run game still isn't where the Seahawks want it to be. Most notably, the Seahawks have still had quite a few negative runs mixed in with their successful ones, something they know they need to clean up to reach their full potential.

"It's a process result thing you're looking at," Macdonald said. "We ran for 150 (Thursday), so there's a lot of good stuff that we're doing. I think we took a step from the week before, but there are runs where we're not getting off the ground. It's really everybody, it's how we design it, how we coach it, how we're blocking it, how we're running it. It's a lot of things."

Macdonald noted on Friday that the run game would be something the Seahawks look at during the break that followed a Thursday game, so the hope will be that they found some things to clean up heading into this week.

Anthony from Carrollton, Ohio asks, "Wondering your take on the tight end duo of AJ Barner and Elijah Arroyo?"

A: Both players have been impressive dating back to training camp for Arroyo, and for Barner, to his rookie season. And it became clear once the Seahawks released Noah Fant that both Arroyo and Barner will have big roles in the offense, and both have done some really good things early this season, including two touchdowns for Barner, who is up to six in his career, and a strong performance last week for Arroyo that featured a pair of catches for 44 yards, as well as target in the end zone that drew a flag for pass interference, a penalty that likely prevented another catch and his first career touchdown.

The Seahawks have used a lot of two tight-end formations this season under offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, as expected, so those two, along with tight end Eric Saubert, will all be big parts of the offense going forward, and while the big numbers might not be there every week, especially with Jaxon Smith-Njigba having such a great season, the tight ends will continue to be important for Seattle's offense, and the Seahawks have a couple of good young players in Barner and Arroyo.

@hitthegaps asks, "Is Cooper Kupp's role on the team what you expected? Is it what he expected?"

A: Kupp, who has 15 catches for 162 yards through four games, might not have quite the numbers some people were expecting when the Seahawks signed him, but over time I have a hunch the numbers will come. As he showed in a seven-catch, 90-yard performance against the Steelers, Kupp is still capable of putting up big numbers, but even if he isn't keeping pace with Jaxon Smith-Njigba and other top receivers, Kupp is still a huge part of what the Seahawks are doing on offense, and really as a team as a whole. Kupp ranks second on the team in targets and receiving yards behind Smith-Njigba, and has played the most snaps of any receiver on the team, slightly ahead of Smith-Njigba. And it's important to also remember his overall impact on the team as a leader and as player who, given his vast experience and overall football smarts, is also a valuable resource to coaches and teammates alike.

"A great football player," Macdonald said. "The unspoken thing is he's been around the block and he's seen it done at a high level, and he's an independent thinker. I love that mentality of, 'Hey, I know we do it like this, but can we tweak it or could we make this a little better? I've seen it like this.' It's always coming through a lens of respect and trying to do it the best way, and as a coach, if you have the same mentality, you can come up with some great solutions. I feel like we've done that several times since he's been here, so he's been an asset to me. He's been an asset to Klint. He's been an asset to our offense, and he's been an asset to our football team."

Again, I'm betting the numbers come over time, but even if Kupp is having a relatively quiet game on the stat sheet, know that he is doing a ton of things to make the offense and the team better.

@marrsman.bsky.social asks, "Any update on Rylie Mills' recovery? Will we see him activated this year?"

A: We got a question on Mills last week, but for those who didn't see that, Macdonald spoke about Mills last week, saying that while there is no timetable yet, the expectation is that the rookie defensive lineman, who tore his ACL late in his senior season, will be back at some point this season.

"I haven't gotten a timetable that would give you an update on that, but he looks great," Macdonald said. "He's training, he's in all the meetings, looks great, I don't have a timetable, though. I think the expectation is at some point, he'd be available this year."