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.

Mark from Cosmopolis, Washington says, "I've got an idea for a new name for our defense: The Battalion of Doom." While Matt from Seattle also has a nickname idea, saying, "How about The Birds of Prey defense?"

A: Both are solid suggestions, but players on that defense, led by the veteran defensive linemen, already came up with a nickname you may have heard them sneak into a few press conferences.

The Dark Side.

We’ll let DeMarcus Lawrence explain:

So look, if you want to tell the likes of Lawrence, Leonard Williams and Jarran Reed that you don't like their idea, you go right ahead, but I think the Dark Side has a nice ring to it.

@hermanator.bsky.social asks, "Tell me something about this team/locker room that you think is interesting and not talked about enough?"

A: The first thing that comes to mind is just how connected this team is, the camaraderie and togetherness of the whole team. It's been talked about, but maybe not enough.

For starters, there's probably a hard-to-quantify boost that teams get on the field when players like each other off the field, but more importantly, especially when it comes to the defense, it's a necessary part of making Mike Macdonald's scheme work. A big reason why Seattle's defense is so good is that they are getting contributions from so many players, especially in the pass rush. The Seahawks have gotten at least half a sack out of 17 different players this season, yet there's no dominant pass rusher with a double-digit total, though several players could get there this season. Defensive linemen get things like Pro-Bowl honors and bigger contracts when they pile up sacks and tackles for loss, so to have a defense like this be at its best, there needs to be real buy-in, and we've seen that this season.

"That's what's so special here is you don't see as much jealousy," defensive tackle Leonard Williams said. "You see a lot of camaraderie, a lot of competition, but at the same time, even for a guy like Derick Hall, who just got his first sack, whenever he's seen one of his peers or teammates get a sack, leading up to his, he's the first one in there celebrating with them. And like I just said, regardless of who gets the sack on third down, overall, we're excited to have a good defense. We're excited to get off the field in clutch situations. So even if it's Spoon (Devon Witherspoon) getting the sack on a blitz, although I want to get that sack, I'm still going to be happy that he got it. He's a part of our defense and we all root for each other."

Or as safety Julian Love put it, "This team now is extremely close. It's uncomfortable how close we are—the constant roasting, the constant messing around. Literally I was just talking to one of our coaches out there today, and said that, pretty much this is middle school, and when we go out there it's recess. In the locker room, it's just messing around in the hallways. That's the kind of energy we bring, but then obviously when it's time to focus, we focus."

Looking for another way that togetherness shows up? Look no further than the way players go to bat for each other if another player might have had a tough game or be on the receiving end of some outside criticism.

@whamifield asks, "Does the team prepare differently now that it's near the end of the season and we're facing a must-win game against the Rams in just over a week?"

A: Yes and no.

If you're implying that a big game against the Rams means the Seahawks sacrifice preparation for this week's game, then no. Every single team in the NFL is too good to be looking ahead and thinking about a game further down the road. Doing that is a great way to suffer a loss before the so-called "big game."

But there are definitely times late in a season where teams will adjust the workload in practice to reduce the strain on players' bodies as they get deep in a long season. We've already seen a few instances this season where Macdonald has decided to have a lighter walkthrough type practice on Wednesdays, so that's definitely something we could see again, whether that be this week or later on in the season.

@RajeshP74187015 asks, "What's the Seahawks' plan to bring back Jalen Sundell?"

A: Macdonald said Monday that Sundell, who has been on injured reserve for the past four games with a knee injury, should return to practice this week. That doesn't necessarily mean he'll be game-ready by Sunday, but if he is, it does bring up an interesting situation. Olu Oluwatimi, who was competing with Sundell for the starting job at center in camp before being sidelined by an injury, has played well in Sundell's absence.

Will the Seahawks give the center job back to Sundell, or will they find a way to let those two compete for it while also preparing for a game? Or could Sundell, who was competing with Anthony Bradford at right guard in camp while also working at center, be back in the mix at that spot? Leaving Oluwatimi at center and moving Sundell to right guard could be an option if the Seahawks believe that gets the best five linemen on the field, but it's also worth noting that on Monday, Macdonald praised Bradford's play, noting that he was the team's highest-graded offensive lineman in Sunday's win over the Falcons.

Macdonald, of course, won't give away the plan ahead of time, and offered only a "we'll see" when asked on Monday about the plan for Sundell.

@segdeha.com on Bluesky asks, "Where do the Seahawks rank among the league's fastest rosters for overall team speed? Rashid Shaheed, Riq Woolen, Kenneth Walker, Nick Emmanwori and even Drake Thomas have to be among the fastest at their positions, right?

A: I'm not sure there's a good way to measure that unless you want to average every players' top speed in NFL Next Gen Stats, or maybe calculate the average of 40-yard dash times coming into the league. But that sounds tedious, so I won't be doing that.

I will agree with the general premise, however, that the Seahawks have a ton of speed on the team. And even more important that players who can just run fast, the Seahawks have players who are playing fast, making decisive decisions and executing without hesitating. The ability to do that in a came is often more important that simple straight-line speed, though in the likes of Woolen, Shaheed, Emmanwori, Walker and others, the Seahawks do have a lot of straight-line speed.

@camaroj42 asks, "Sam Darnold seems to be a good runner when it happens, but it's rare. Will we see more of that?" And on a similar note, "XSakb asks, "Did Sam run more by design yesterday, and will we see more of that?"

A: Darnold and Macdonald were both asked about this very topic after Sunday's game, in which he rushed for 23 yards on three carries. Darnold is a really good athlete and has run more in the past seasons—he had 67 carries for 212 yards last year compared to 19 for 72 yards 13 games into this season—and said his goal isn't to run more or less, but rather to just make sure he is taking what the defense gives him.

"I just tried to take some of the opportunities that the defense gave me," Darnold said on Sunday. "I was going through my reads, and if something wasn't there, it was just not panicking and just understanding that I could get out of the pocket and make something happen with my legs."

Said Macdonald, "Yeah. He's so good at extending plays. Just go be a playmaker, man. Go do the things that you do. Get excited about it. Just kind of build him up on that front. You can't make too big of these things. Just encourage him to go do what he does and make it happen."

@PokerCraig asks, "Who's the next Seahawks that will have his number retired?"

A: The Seahawks have only retired the numbers of four players in their history: Steve Largent (80), Kenny Easley (45), Cortez Kennedy (96) and Walter Jones (71). That's a pretty exclusive list, as all of them are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame who spent their entire NFL careers in Seattle.

That's not to say the next retired number will have to fit those exact criteria—in today's NFL, it's increasingly rare to spend an entire career in one place—but it is a good reminder that having a number retired is really rare, and that a lot of great players' numbers are not and will not be retired. Part of that has to do with trying to keep it as a really exclusive honor, and part of it is just logistics, because with so many players on an NFL roster, teams will run out of numbers if they retire too many.

I bring all of that up because, with so many great players having played for the Seahawks in recent years, especially last decade when the Seahawks went to two Super Bowls, fans might expect that a bunch of players from that era will end up with retired numbers, and while a few might, I wouldn't expect it to be a big number. We'll see who ends up in the Ring of Honor or the Hall of Fame—discussions for another mailbag—but when it comes to retired numbers, there may not be a lot.

The one who I think is pretty close to a lock is Bobby Wagner, who by any measure is one of the greatest players in franchise history and one of the best middle linebackers of all time. You can make a case that Wagner had as good, if not better, of a career than any of those players whose numbers are retired already considering that he has the most first-team All-Pro selections in team history (6), tied for the most Pro-Bowl selections (9), and the most first or second-team All-Pro selections (9). Wagner was also a member of the 2010s All-Decade team, and was a key piece of one of the best defenses in NFL history, one that helped lead the Seahawks to their first Super Bowl title.

You could make a compelling case for Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman, Marshawn Lynch, Russell Wilson and Kam Chancellor, among others, but again, the Seahawks have so far have kept the bar very high for retired numbers, I'm just not sure how many they'll want to do in coming years? Maybe whichever of those above players end up in the Hall of Fame? We'll have to wait and see, but one thing worth considering is that in the three seasons Wagner has been with other teams, nobody has worn his No. 54. The same can't be said about pretty much any other number that isn't already retired.