Featuring postgame quotes from the following:

Head Coach Mike Macdonald

Good to see everybody. It's a good win. It's tough coming east, 10:00 a.m. game for our guys. Got to give the Titans a lot of credit. They played extremely hard. Their quarterback played really well. He's a really hard guy to get on the ground. Extended plays and did a great job, especially on some of those third and fourth downs. Our guys were playing really hard there at the end, and I thought we showed a lot of maturity. Working through all the things and how the game went, you would have liked for us to be able to close the game out earlier, but they were fighting hard and they played hard, and they returned a kick for a touchdown. Our guys showed a lot of resilience, just keeping playing. The last drive, we were also playing the clock knowing they were going to be in an onside kick situation, so didn't give up a big play there, which is a positive. Obviously would have liked to close the game out earlier, but I'll tell you what, our guys fought really hard, played hard. We had a good week of preparation. Look, you don't play teams' records in this league. Teams are too talented. This team is a talented team that is coached well, and they played hard. They've had a lot of one-score games that haven't gone their way, and today is another one, so hats off to them.

Thoughts on Jaxon Smith-Njigba breaking the franchise record for receiving yards?

Yeah, it's funny, we just told the team that we were giving him the game ball, and I asked them what week it was, and everybody said, it doesn't matter. We've got the right mentality. But happy for JSN (Jaxon Smith-Njigba). He's doing an incredible job, brings it every day, and he's a great teammate, which is awesome. So you're really happy for him.

With all the injuries at linebacker, how did you feel like Patty-O (Patrick O'Connell) played out there?

It's funny, we have an ongoing joke on our ready squad that you can't block Patty-O (Patrick O'Connell) on a daily basis, so I'm glad he had his opportunity today, and happy for him. He went out and played winning football for us and made some great plays, so I'm excited to watch the tape and see what he did.

On Smith-Njigba, was he fully healthy? Was he all right coming out of this?

To my knowledge, yeah.

When he's so consistently dominant, when everyone knows that he's getting the ball for the most part, what does that say about his ability?

Well, he's got tremendous ability and he's a great talent and he's an incredible worker, but I would say it's a team thing. He's not the only guy running routes out there. He's not the only guy protecting. I think our offensive staff does a great job of moving him around, which is not easy to play multiple positions and move around. It's hard for guys to do that. It takes a lot of effort. It takes a lot of elegant simplicity to make him get into all these different spots. And I think the guys around him were playing at a high level, too. I think we can be better. I think today we were a little sloppy operationally offensively. We need to clean that up. We've got to be better in the red zone. All these things we want to be able to improve on I think will even make it — I think will allow them to take it no another level.

The second game where you guys had no turnovers, how important was that?

Yeah, that's a credit — I probably should have started with that. Obviously, it's a major point of emphasis to play great football. We're talking about finishing drives with the ball in the end zone. That's what we want to do. We want to finish in the red zone, and obviously we want to hold on to it. Guys did a good job of that. The ball was in jeopardy a couple times. The ball hit the guy in the chest once and the ball was up in the air, so we've got to look at that and make sure we're cleaning those things up.

What happened with Ty Okada, and how did you think D'Anthony Bell did?

Yeah, Ty (Okada) has an oblique, and all of a sudden he was out. I think it happened — I think it might have happened on that fourth down or in the drive before the fourth down. Then D'Anthony (Bell) being ready to go, it got a little hairy there out at safety, so we had to be ready for a contingency plan. But great job. Jeff Howard did a great job of getting him ready to go, and we didn't have to change game plan. We called our stuff. And that's a tribute to him.

You've been talking about guys stepping up. You had fourth down stop, you mentioned D'Anthony Bell, got Patty-O (Patrick O'Connell). What does that say about the defense?

Yeah, it's the same message. It's the 70, and it's that feeling that we talk about throughout the year of when guys have opportunities to go, you're excited to go see them play. These guys have earned opportunities to play for us in critical games, and so I was excited to see these guys play. It's great; it's not like, "Oh, shoot, 'so-and-so' is out." It's like, okay, great, let's roll with Patty-O. Let's play. Let's go.

On the TV copy you were pretty fired up on that fourth down stop.

Okay, they caught that. Heck yeah, man. Death zone football? That's a physical football play, man, and it's high-leverage situation, takes some high-level execution. At the end of the day, in short yardage, you've got to kick somebody's butt. On that play, we did that.

On their punt return did you see anything that might have happened?

Yeah, I saw something that happened. But we've got to play better. Guy likes to go around the edge and we had no edge. That's the gunner's responsibility, and it's our net's responsibility, so we've got to play that better, but I saw a few things on that one.

What did you think of Sam Darnold today?

Actually, he was a spark for us. The big touchdown to Jax (Smith-Njigba), to see his emotion and his excitement I thought really got the team going, which is something that we needed. Like we said, same guy. Just ripped it, did a great job. There's some plays that we want to improve on and we want back, and we'll learn from those plays just like the rest of the team. But I thought Sam (Darnold) played good football today.

Derick Hall gets his first sack of the season. How did you think he played?

It doesn't feel like it. I feel like he's been rushing way — he deserves more than whatever he has. So happy for him. He should have more. I think we have to finish better on the quarterback. You've got to give their quarterback a lot of credit for how elusive he is, but we had some opportunities there in the third and fourth quarter, and it would be great to capitalize on them, but guys are playing incredibly hard. You can't say it's not because you're fighting or we're not doing anything selfishly. It's just we've just got to do a little bit better, play a little bit better together, finish better together, but happy for D-Hall (Derick Hall) because he's playing really high-level football for us.

What does it say about Grey Zabel coming back?

I'll tell you what, this guy is unbelievable. He wanted to go in against their front, and I mean, what else can you say about the guy? Just elite competitor, tough as crap. Yeah, we love him. It felt like he played really good football, too, so happy for him.

In the first half, they had the long third down where Tyjae Spears reversed field and Nick Emmanwori chased him down --

It's funny, as soon as he reversed field, I said, 'Nick (Emmanwori), go get him,' because he's the only guy that has a chance to go get him. But that's our defense. Just defend a blade of grass. We want to play relentlessly. Nick does that. He's playing two spots for us, which is not easy to do. There's a lot of stuff you've got to learn to play two positions.

How are Chazz Surratt and George Holani doing? It seemed like those guys being out impacted your special teams there.

Well, it did, yeah. We were kind of getting a little thin there towards the game, so guys stepped up and played. Chazz (Surratt) has an ankle, George (Holani) has a hamstring. So we'll see.

Is there any early sense on Ty Okada and how serious it could be?

Not an early sense. I almost punched him in the oblique in the locker room, and then I stopped.

Just because I know you love injury timeline questions, does it seem like Julian Love is on track to get back this week?

We'll see. He's got a process that we've got to go through, like, we've got to take it day by day. We're hopeful, but part of the reason of putting him on IR and taking this time is to ensure when he comes back that he's ready to go, and he can go rip it the way that he plays, and we're not asking second questions. We want to make sure he's ready to go.

Kenneth Walker seemed to get more carries today. How did you feel like he played?

I thought he did a great job. It was great to see Zach (Charbonnet) punch it in the red zone. We wanted to run -- those guys played well together. Thought they protected the quarterback well. We caught it well out of the backfield. Yeah, I felt Ken (Walker) today. He made some explosive plays for us, which was great.

How many game balls have you given to Njigba?

Probably not enough. Honestly, I don't know. But honestly he probably could get one every game. What is this, eight in a row, eight games with 100-plus? Yeah, he's a tremendous football player.

They way he paces his pass routes and keeps defenders on his back. As a defensive coach, what do you coach there?

Well, those deep balls down the field, especially ones that aren't in stride, it's incredibly hard to play. You're running full speed, speeds that I've never encountered, me running down the field. It's a hard thing. At some point when you're in phase you have to go play the ball, and that's really the only chance you have because otherwise you're going to get called for a penalty. It does show you his body control is really just next level.

You said you asked him a question?

Jax?

Yeah, about the game ball, about what the record --

Oh, before I gave it to him, he broke the record by whatever week — what week is it? I don't know.

12.

It's week 12? 11th game, week 12, that's pretty good.

His first touchdown looked like he went motion, kind of got messed up on the safety there.

Yeah, I think they might have had a coverage bust on that one, but you've got to make them pay for that.

QB Sam Darnold

It's good to get a win, obviously. I thought as an offense we were able to move the ball up and down the field. We just got to finish when we get in the red zone. I think that's the story today. And then some things operationally we can clean up, some penalties. But overall, again like I said, I felt like besides maybe the second drive in the second half where we went three-and-out, I felt like we were moving the ball at a high clip today. But we just got to continue to finish our drives and finish in the red zone.

With Jaxon (Smith-Njigba), I mean we're asking you a question about him every week and his single season franchise record only eleven games in. What do you have to say about the way he played today?

Yeah, it's unbelievable, man. Just the way that he's been able to play this year, every single game. It's tough to be that consistent. But I think it starts with his attitude and his prep that he puts in throughout the week. So no surprise whatsoever. But yeah, he's a really good player. And again, I think the guys that we have to complement a guy like Jax, starting with the running backs, the tight ends and the other receivers. There's other guys on the field that the defense has to pay attention to, and I think that can only help him out.

What does it mean that he is able to shield defenders, just his body control?

Yeah, yeah, his body control is second to none. He can really go up no matter if the ball is overthrown, I feel like he has the talent and the speed to speed up and catch it. Or if it's underthrown he has the ability to, like you mentioned, put the defender in a tough position and kind of box him out, and get the ball and not only catch the ball but also try to score with it as well.

On that first touchdown, it looked like they had a couple guys that might have picked each other off there on cover. What did you see there that immediately had you like 'I'm going to go right there in that corner route to JSN (Jaxon Smith-Njigba).

Yeah, I think just understanding the coverage, him potentially being one-on-one. It wasn't my first read but I just felt like that's kind of where the defense took me.

What are you seeing from what is going on in the red zone?

I think in the red zone we just got to keep the ball moving forward. Like I said, I think penalties don't help with that. I had a delay of game, which I'd like to have that one back, for sure. But yeah, we just got to keep the ball moving forward. If we go backwards that's always a bad thing in the red zone.

From having an efficient clean day versus last week, did the process that you had this week maybe support what you did today?

No, I think my process has always been there. I think it was just a better outcome this week. And yeah, I think that's about it.

WR Cooper Kupp

Jaxon Smith-Njigba broke the single season record today. You've been side-by-side with him during this breakout year. What have you seen from him? What stands out about the way he plays?

He's done an incredible job making the most of his opportunities. Over and over again there's been games where we're not throwing the ball a ton. But every opportunity he has to make a play, he's doing it. That's hard to do in this league. Everyone knows the passing game is obviously going to be going through him and he just continues to make plays and it's a pretty impressive to watch.

Coach Macdonald was talking about how difficult it is for defenders when he's got a ball that maybe isn't thrown in stride. He seems to box somebody out like a basketball player. It seems like very few guys are able to do that consistently. What do you see from him in that regard and how much pressure that puts on defensive backs?

I think he does a great job tracking the football. Great body control and he catches the ball. He puts his hands on the ball; he's going to catch it. Definitely as a DB when you're turned and running and you don't see the ball and as a receiver we do, we know we have the advantage. Sam's (Darnold) done a great job, too, just giving him opportunity balls to make those plays. And like I said, Jax has done it over and over again and opportunities multiply and he's done a great job of that.

Sam Darnold's reaction to that first big touchdown got everybody fired up. Was it good to see that after a tough game?

Yeah, he's going to be Sam Darnold. Do his little fist pump thing back there. It was great to see. No one's surprised that he came out firing, being aggressively smart. But regardless of whatever last week was, I mean come out here and play football, and we knew Sam was going to do that.

No turnovers for you guys. How big was that to have zero today?

Yeah, that's huge. We obviously can't continue to do what we've been doing. That's not a sustainable process. It's not a sustainable model for us and we definitely have to do better than that. So, it's good to see.

WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba

This is your second time wearing a cowboy hat. Is this going to be a theme?

It might be. It might just have to be. It felt comfortable and we're 2-0 in it. So you might see it again later on this year.

What does it mean to you to break DK Metcalf's record and do it as fast as you did this year?

It means a lot. This organization, great organization. Great receivers have come through here. Honestly, I look at it as a team award quite honestly because without Sam (Darnold) and without the protection, without Sheed (Rashid Shaheed) and Coop (Kupp), this doesn't happen. So, I'm grateful and thankful and blessed for my team. Blessed to be a Seahawk.

Where was this among your goals to break this record?

The goal that I set, I guess you could say this was definitely part of it.

So did you know going into today that you had a chance? I mean that you were a hundred or something yards away from it?

Yeah, I knew. Yes sir.

You've both in the Arizona game, this game, other games, you throttle down sometimes on deep passes and kind of box out your defender. Is that something you've always been able to do or something you picked up?

I would say like I'm starting to notice it like more, like I'm doing it a little bit more. But yeah, just playing ball, going out there playing ball. Definitely notice it a little bit, but I wouldn't say something that I've done. Any way to make a play, you know, I've got to do it.

On the one today, at what point when the ball was in flight did you notice you might be overrun and it needed to slow down?

Once the ball was in there, as soon as I saw the ball, just adjust, make a play as soon as I (saw) it.

And when you're doing that, are you trying to keep the defender on their back or is that an actual conscious effort you're doing?

Yeah, sometimes. And that in that play specifically, he was kind of on my side. DBs, I would say I have better ball tracking skills than a lot of DBs and I can kind of feel their tenseness and freaking out when the ball is in the air. So, just staying relaxed, staying calm. Me and Dareke (Young) and Coach Frizz (Frisman Jackson), we work on drills like that all the time, every single day. So you know, just bringing it to life.

Do you work on giving them just enough of a nudge to create some separation?

Yeah, hold it off. Hold the line. Hold your line and let the ball be out there and break at the last second and catch the ball. It's a great drill and something that you can see in the game.

What's the technique on that to not get called for offensive pass interference?

Just stand your ground. Don't panic. I don't need to push. I can just hold off and stand my ground and get the ball at the last second, sort of thing.

You went in motion on that play, it ended up getting guarded by safety, I think. And Mike Macdonald was saying that was probably a coverage bust by them and Sam Darnold said you weren't necessarily the top number one read there. But did you figure out immediately like 'I've got this matchup?'

Oh yeah, I mean credit to Sam (Darnold) just seeing it, sticking with me and understanding that I'm going to adjust my route mid play. So for him to be able to see that and put the ball up and give me a chance, I think that's elite, championship football and something we hope to continue.

What was your reaction to what Sam Darnold did one week after having some turnovers. Come out, throwing only touchdowns, no picks, and still going for the deep ball?

No panic, no panic from us. We're going to stick to the routine, make it right. We believe in Sam (Darnold). He's our quarterback, he's our guy, and we're going to ride with him and every time we come out we just want to play our best game. And if we didn't the week before, we're going to come back and keep swinging.

Kenneth Walker had some explosive runs today and got more carries. He's starting to feel like what he can add to this offense the rest of the way?

Oh, for sure. Get 9 (Kenneth Walker III) the ball and good things happening. It's great to see him. His elusiveness is next level, never seen it before and we just got to block better and create more open lanes for him.

With the running backs seemingly being more involved in the passing game here, last game and a half or so, are you seeing that have a little bit of an impact in terms of what you guys are seeing in the back end too? Because now teams are having to focus on that.

One thousand percent. That's the name of the game. Take what they give you and running back's been doing a great job. Sam (Darnold) just check down, make it to the next play and running back's making the most of it. We're going to need every single guy out here and I'm proud of my guys.

Where'd you get that hat?

This hat? On a little online shopping, you know. I can't tell you the brand, but it's like an online shopping.

LB Drake Thomas

Was it closer than you guys wanted there at the end?

It's the NFL. They are going to make plays, too. It's more so, I feel like about how you respond in those moments, and I feel like we responded well. We got the W, so that's all that matters.

When you look at the day overall, as a defense you guys had quite a few guys go down?

Yeah, it's the next man up mentality. We can't flinch when that happens. It's whoever is next up in line. We fully expect them to hold up their end of the deal, and they are when they come out there. Whoever it is, whatever number it is, whatever guy it is, when they are being called on and it's their time to go, they've been ready. So, credit to the guys that we have and the leadership really to get everybody ready to go for their moment.

The tackle for loss you had in the first half. Can you take us through that play?

We were doing a simulated pressure on the left. I was the weak hook, and I was showing Cover 3. So my responsibility is really on the other side of the field, but I saw the pullers and just shot my shot. Spoon (Devon Witherspoon) set the edge and I became untouched.

What was it like chasing after Cam Ward all day extending plays?

He did a great job extending plays, making plays off schedule. That's when he was most effective today. He did a really good job of it. So, we got to watch the film and keep on working on that, but credit to him. He's a really good player.

What is your take on Patrick O'Connell stepping in today?

Pat's (Patrick O'Connell) been ready. The way he works every single week, you can't say enough about a guy like Pat. (He) stays ready all the time, whenever his number is called on. I don't think anybody in this locker room was worried about Pat going out there and playing. We knew he was going to be ready to go and he did a great job filling in today.

Did you notice the Seahawks fans in the stadium?

Yeah, it was awesome. It was like a home game.

CB Devon Witherspoon

How are you feeling about how the defense played today?

I think we played all right. I mean I don't think we played to our standard. And we could do make way more better plays and stuff like that. So, I just think we got to be better on defense for sure. But I think we played a decent game.

Why do you think you didn't play to the standard?

I mean we gave up too many points to be honest. We were letting the quarterback get outside, scramble around, we wasn't plastering and staying on our man, and they were able to create plays when they needed them. In the end, it boiled down to being a close game, so we've got to be better on defense for sure.

What have you been seeing on Nick Emmanwori lately? Just the way he's playing?

I mean he's doing everything we wanted him to do. It's really hard to describe. Like bro 6'4, rookie. He's big as (expletive). You know what I'm saying? So, it's like it's really nothing he can't do. So, our expectations for him are high and it's going to be high for however long he's going to be here.

The play he made on the third-and-long where Tyjae Spears reversed field and he chased him down, what do you think of the way he was there?

That's just a great effort play. I mean, he preaches that every day in the defensive meeting room like ways to the football. Always have your teammate back out there. So that's just a prime example of that, a way to get to the ball. When stuff happens, we got to get the ball down, give ourselves another shot.

He's being asked to wear so many different hats on this defense and they've been gradually adding. How have you seen him take to that sense, especially when he had several games that he missed with an injury that kind of stalled that progress a little bit?

I mean he takes it as a challenge, you know what I'm saying? He knows he's been asked a lot, so he's studied real well. He asks a lot of questions and after meetings and stuff, he can stay after, ask extra questions and stuff just to make sure he knows his assignments and stuff like that. So he is actually doing a lot, he's playing a lot of different positions. But when you are that size and you who you are, we're going to ask you to do that.

Have you seen that impact the secondary when you can have him play the slot and you can play the slot and you can do more mixing and matching and stuff and how that can make it muddied up for a quarterback?

I just give a testament to our coach (Mike) Macdonald right there. He's able to cook up some crazy stuff and he was able to put us in the best position to win. So, I just got to give my head ball coach a shout out on that.

You guys have been a little shorthanded in different positions on defense all season and then you're missing some linebackers today. Ty Okada gets hurt and guys just keep stepping up. What can you say about the depth of this defense?

It's just a testament to what we preach and how we practice and how everyone studies and takes it as a challenge, man. We always preach you never know what's going to happen in the game and it's always a next man up mentality. So, everyone prepares like they're going to be a starter. We always practice like everyone's a starter because you just never know when your number's going to be called, man, and that's a testament what we built around here.

Does Derick Hall own you a share of the sack on the blitz?

I don't want to even talk about it. I don't even know. I don't even think they credit me for a sack today.

You and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the same draft class, came up together and he just broke DK Metcalf's single season record for receiving yards. What do you think about what he did today and just what he's been doing all year?

I mean, like I said, probably a couple of weeks ago. I already knew he was going to be capable of doing stuff like this. I mean it's just hard to guard him, bro. When he gets open, he's just so efficient in what he does and then he's got a like a great catch radius. So I'm just a fan watching just like y'all when he's out there man. I be so happy and stuff like that because like I said, I remember a lot of people were saying stuff our rookie year, like he didn't put up the numbers and stuff and I'm like, 'Bro, trust you don't know what we got over here.' And then now he just able to shine a light on it. So, he's just doing his thing right now, man. Shout out to my brother. Keep doing your thing, man.

You're usually pretty good at calling out plays and stuff like that. Did you know you were going to get tried in the red zone there?

I mean we did, we (saw) the concept on film. I mean — he pump faked the curl route and then he threw the seven route, so I didn't know he was actually going to throw it. But I mean I just made a play that came to me.

It doesn't feels like you have been targeted a lot this year, does it feel good to get a chance like that to make plays on the ball?

I just try to make the plays that come to me, man. I don't really care about all that stuff. Like I said, we just play a style that nobody wants to play against. So no matter who makes the play, we celebrate them all.

Big picture, how do you think this team responded from LA?

I think we just responded well. I like I said, I just don't think we played to our standard today. I think we could have played a lot better on both sides of the ball. But I mean this is a great win and it's great to learn from a win instead of a loss. So, we just going to go back to the drawing board and see what we did wrong. And try to improve on that, man. Got to be better.

Whose idea was it to wear "Mob Ties" hoodies?

I'm going to keep that in house now. I can't even really put up anybody's name out there.

Why does the mob ties mantra fit with this team's identity?

We always just put the mission over anything else, no matter what it is, man. We try to get that W. So, no matter what happens or what the outcome may be. Stuff happens during the game, we know that. But just stay the course of the mission, don't default to anything else, just stay the course of the mission.