The Seahawks will host the Kansas City Chiefs on Friday in their second preseason game, and unlike the opener in which most of Seattle's starters did not play, the plan this week is for most, if not all, of the starters to see at least some playing time.

More on that and other things we learned from Mike Macdonald's press conference following Wednesday's press conference:

1. Most starters are expected to see some playing time, including quarterback Sam Darnold

After holding out most of their veteran starters for last week's preseason opener against the Raiders, the Seahawks plan to give starters, with a few exceptions, at least some playing time on Friday night.

Macdonald said, "there might be a couple of guys" who won't play, but that most will.

"We're still kind of working through it right now, but our guys are going to start the game out and we'll see how long it goes," he said.

Asked if quarterback Sam Darnold needed playing time this preseason, Macdonald said, "I don't think we need to, but I think it's the best thing for us."

Later when asked about receivers Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp, he said it's the same for them as with everyone else, "I'm looking forward to seeing our team go rip and then we can kind of move from there. These guys have been working their tails off. Talking to guys on the sideline, it's hard for them to watch the game and not be a part of it, so I think they're excited to go out there."

Macdonald later added, "I'm excited to see these guys demonstrate what they've been doing, and they've earned it. They've earned that opportunity to go let it rip out there and show what they can do to the rest of the world."

2. Injury updates.

Center Olu Oluwatimi, who when healthy is competing for the starting job with Jalen Sundell, continues to be sidelined by a back injury, and while a timeline is not yet available on his return, Macdonald is hopeful it will be soon.

"He's good, he's just progressing, but he's coming along," Macdonald said. "… I can't give you a day. But it should be soon."

Left tackle Charles Cross is already back to limited participation in camp after having hand surgery earlier in camp.

"We ended up with some great news coming out of surgery, which is awesome, then Charles is the type of guy that if you give him any opportunity to push the envelope and come back—it's all safe and all secure—it's great to have him out there," Macdonald said. "He's getting mental reps and walkthroughs, he's locked in."

On long snapper Chis Stoll also remains out with a back injury, Macdonald said, "I just talked to him. He says he's feeling a lot better. He's coming along, it'll happen sooner than later, hopefully."

Rookie outside linebacker Jalan Gaines left practice early with what Macdonald called a hand injury: "He dinged his hand today, so we'll see what happens. We'll get it imaged.

3. "We got our Mike linebacker back."

The Seahawks were without middle linebacker Ernest Jones IV for several days following the death of his father, but he has been back the past two days, a welcome sight for Seattle's defense and coaching staff.

"We got our Mike linebacker back, man," Macdonald said. "It's great seeing 13 in the middle. We love him, you know how we feel about Ernest. When he walks in the huddle, he's our guy, and you feel it with the rest of our team. I'm glad he's with us. I love that he's spending his time with us, and with his family at home."

4. Macdonald is looking forward to seeing rookie quarterback Jalen Milroe progress in his second game.

Rookie quarterback Jalen Milroe had some good moments in his preseason debut, including an impressive 15-yard pass on the run to Tyrone Broden and a 27-yard run that showed off his speed. But given that it was his first NFL game action, the Seahawks are looking forward to seeing even more out of him on Friday.

"You've got a lot of stuff going through your mind first game going out there, and I think he just realized, 'I'm just going to go play quarterback the way that I'm trained to play quarterback, and see what happens,'" Macdonald said. "He's only going to get better, which is a beautiful thing."

5. The tackling last week was good, but the Seahawks know they need to maintain it.

By the coaching staff's count, the Seahawks had five missed tackles in their preseason opener, a pretty solid number considering it was their first game action of the year, and that most of the starters weren't on the field. But while that's an encouraging start, Macdonald knows his team has to build off it, noting the Seahawks started well in that regard last season on their way to a 3-0 start, then struggled for a stretch of the season.

"It's a great start," Macdonald said. "We had the same conversation after the Denver game last year; we thought we were the best tackling team of all time, and then… It's something you have to work on all the time and chase, and it's a very critical part of the game to play great defense. So we're looking forward to doing it again."