Despite a standout performance from Sam Darnold and the offense, the Seahawks fell short in a high-scoring contest in Week 5, losing to Tampa Bay in a 38-35 thriller. Up next is another tough test, a road game against the 4-1 Jacksonville Jaguars, 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.

Erocy.world on BlueSky asks if the Seahawks might trade for an edge rusher, linebacker or cornerback, and what is most likely. @FSaelee and others also ask about possible impact trade additions.

A: One tough outing on defense and everyone wants to trade for help, huh? Kidding aside, this is the time of year when it's fair to wonder if the Seahawks might add some help via a trade. The deadline isn't until Nov. 4, but as multiple trades on Tuesday showed, teams don't always wait until the deadline to strike a deal. Also relevant to the conversation is the fact that Seahawks general manager John Schneider is not afraid to make in-season trade acquisitions, acquiring some key players over the years, often times for great value.

One of Schneider's earliest, and to this date most important, trades was the one that brought Marshawn Lynch to Seattle in 2010. And over the years the Seahawks have added several big contributors, from left tackle Duane Brown to safety Quandre Diggs to two of the top players on the current defense, lineman Leonard Williams and linebacker Ernest Jones IV.

I'm not going to pretend to know who or what position group the Seahawks might target in a potential trade, if they were to make one, but what is safe to say is that Schneider and personnel department are paying very close attention to what teams around the league are doing and trying to decipher who might be available, and then looking at who could be a fit to add to the team. None of that is to say the Seahawks will definitely add to the team between now and the deadline, but they'll be thorough in exploring those possibilities.

@yoabro asks, "Curious if the crowd noise is having an adverse effect on the communication of our team operations while on defense?"

A: This is an interesting topic, because while crowd noise is traditionally thought to be an issue for offenses, it's fair to wonder, given how loud Lumen Field can be, combined with the complexity of Mike Macdonald's defense, if that noise makes things harder on the defense.

Players and Macdonald have acknowledged that they have to adjust at home to deal with noise, using more hand signals to communicate calls, etc. The Seahawks also do things like practice with crowd noise when they're on defense during the week of a home game, so they're making efforts to mitigate whatever challenges come with playing in that level of noise. The hope, of course, is that said crowd noise is making things more difficult on opposing offenses than Seattle's defense, and of course the Seahawks want their fans contributing to a tough environment for opposing teams, but playing in that noise does present some challenges to the defense.

@ruebenbvargas.bsky.social asks, "Will Spoon be back for Jacksonville?"

A: Cornerback Devon Witherspoon missed two games this season due to a knee injury, then returned for Seattle's Week 4 win in Arizona, but he then missed last weekend's game against the Buccaneers. We likely won't know until late in the week, or possibly even gameday, if Witherspoon will be back this week, but Macdonald indicated on Monday that he and DeMarcus Lawrence, who missed Sunday's game with a quadricep injury, have a real shot to get back this week.

"Spoon and D-Hall, they're going to try to practice in the middle of the week," Macdonald said. "No designation yet, but the plan is for them to practice at some point middle to late in the week, and then we'll take it from there."

After a follow-up question on Witherspoon, Macdonald added, "I think it's fair to say he's making progress positively."

@hawkania4 asks, "Was this the best uniform matchup in recent years?"

A: Absolutely.

In theory I should do a deep dive to consider all the matchups in recent years, but it's not possible that any were better, right? Sunday's Seahawks vs. Bucs throwback matchup was simply gorgeous. There are a few other throwback combos with Seattle's that would be fun to see, especially if the league were willing to let both teams wear their home uniforms at the same time. Maybe Seahawks throwbacks and Eagles Kelly green throwbacks? Or Seahawks and Patriots red throwbacks?

All I know is that the Seahawks throwbacks are among the best-looking uniforms in football, if not all of sports, so I'm all for any matchup involving them.

@Philipp_Swl asks, "What did Mike Macdonald and Klint Kubiak expect from the Jalen Milroe packages?" Les from Chelan and Sean from High River, Alberta also asked about Seattle's usage of Milroe.

A: The Seahawks have only used rookie quarterback Jalen Milroe on a handful of plays this season, resulting in a couple of short runs, then on Sunday, an unfortunate turnover with Milroe trying to toss an option pitch to Kenneth Walker III. Obviously those aren't the results the Seahawks are looking for when they put the third-round pick on the field, so Macdonald was asked about that play and about the use of Milroe this season so far.

"We have more plays for Jalen," Macdonald said. "It's a combination of, we really like the plays that we have for him, and we're doing a lot of great things on offense when Sam (Darnold) is the only quarterback in the game, too, so trying to balance that as well. Part of the reason we're having success right now on offense is that we're throwing our fastballs and we're running our offense. We're running all of our plays and Jalen's package is a part of that, and teams have to prepare for it. I think that helps us and we're executing it really well in practice, and they look good in practice. You start getting conservative and not calling stuff because you're scared, we don't want to live like that. The play didn't go our way, could have made a better pitch, could have had a better pitch relationship. We want to take care of the football, that's number one, but we want to stay aggressive too."

As Macdonald noted in that answer, making opponents prepare for the possibility of a dual-threat quarterback coming into the game is part of why the Seahawks want to get Milroe snaps, saying that, as a defensive coach, it does put extra work on a team's plate to get ready for that type of player.

"Yeah, you've got to have rules," he said. "You've got to know when he's in the game and if he's not a quarterback. Yeah, you've got to practice those plays."

Mike from Oak Harbor asks, "Why don't the Seahawk coaches address penalties our players commit on the field more seriously? They say it's part of the game; they say mistakes happen; they acknowledge them, but the same bonehead, lazy, senseless, egregious penalties occur every week! They are game-changers!"

A: Mike continued on a rather long rant about penalties, and I get it, it can be maddening to see penalties hurt the team you cheer for. And the Seahawks had some costly penalties in Sunday's loss, including two on offense that killed early drives, and one on defense that helped explore a Buccaneers scoring drive. But it's also worth taking a step back and viewing things through a more objective lens.

Yes, the Seahawks have had some costly penalties, but so have 31 other teams in the NFL. Football, especially at this level, is an incredibly physically and mentally taxing job, and there are a ton of rules that players are trying to play within on every play. Sometimes penalties happen, it's just part of the game, and as Macdonald likes to put it, some are just the cost of doing business, such as effort plays that go just beyond what the rules allow, others are less accepted by coaches. But what's also worth considering here is that fans are always going to notice their own team's penalties a lot more than what's going on around the league.

For example, for as upset as Mike from Oak Harbor is, based on this question, I doubt he realizes that the Seahawks' 27 penalties enforced against them this year are tied for the fewest among the 30 teams who have played five games (only Pittsburgh and Atlanta, who had a bye, have fewer). Meanwhile, Seattle's 240 yards of penalties are tied for fifth fewest. Would Macdonald love it if his team never hurt itself with penalties? Of course, but relative to the rest of the league, the Seahawks are doing a pretty good job in that department.