Seahawks open first training camp under Macdonald: ‘It’s like Christmas, man’

SEATTLE – Once he got between the lines Wednesday, Mike Macdonald said everything felt pretty much like business as usual.

“Once you’re in practice it’s practice, and you’re worried about all the things (happening on the field),” Macdonald said following the Seahawks’ training camp opener Wednesday afternoon at the VMAC in Renton, Washington.

But before and after, Macdonald was reminded again that his life is just a little bit different now that he is serving as a head coach compared to his past 10 years with the Baltimore Ravens and University of Michigan when he was either a defensive position assistant or defensive coordinator.

As Macdonald ran onto the field at 12:54 p.m., he was greeted with cheers from fans lining the path, and then stopped to sign some autographs.

Afterward, he not only had to talk to the media for 10 minutes but then head back out to again sign a few more autographs.

And the man who is the youngest head coach in the NFL this season, having turned 37 in June, said it hit him a few times along the way that he is now a member of one of the most exclusive head-coaching fraternities in the world.

“Before practice it felt a little different coming out here like, ‘Wow, OK, you’re responsible for what’s going on out here,’ ” he said. “It’s pretty cool.”

Then he ran what was about a 1 hour, 45-minute practice, with the Seahawks off the field by around 2:45 p.m. or so.

The Seahawks were not in pads and there was no contact, with neither allowed for a few more days. Macdonald said the emphasis was on teaching and installing the team’s new schemes more than evaluating players.

But it was also still football, all the same with Macdonald saying the whole thing left him feeling like “you can’t take the smile off your face … It’s like Christmas, man. Like I say, you walk out of here and it’s just a special place. This is the only place in the world that is like this. You pinch yourself that you have this opportunity to be here with these people and take advantage of this opportunity. So, here we are, and it’s a blessing, for sure.”

As Macdonald noted, there wasn’t a whole lot to really assess. But what he saw he said he liked.

“Really a great start with the guys,” Macdonald said. “Day one is in the books so, a long way to go, but we’re off to a good start.”

Here’s more of what we learned Wednesday:

It’s good to have the linebackers back

One lingering concern – the health of the team’s projected two starting inside linebackers, Tyrel Dodson and Jerome Baker – was erased when each was cleared to practice earlier in the day.

Each missed the offseason program with injuries and were placed on the physically unable to perform list last week.

But each were reported as having passed their physicals Wednesday and were on the field when camp begin.

As expected, Dodson worked at middle linebacker and relayed the play calls from Macdonald to the rest of the defense while Baker worked at weakside linebacker.

It appeared that each was being eased into practice as both got limited snaps, with Jon Rhattigan getting some snaps with the first-team defense in the middle and rookie Tyrice Knight at weakside linebacker, as well.

But getting each on the field was a step in the right direction as Seattle begins to see what it has in an ILB duo who will be tasked with replacing last year’s starters – Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks.

“Those guys have been working really hard, and it’s great to see it start to pay off for them,” Macdonald said.

Corners mostly stick to one side, for now

Macdonald’s defensive background means that everything on that side of the ball throughout camp will be closely analyzed.

That includes whether he could stray from what was Pete Carroll’s long-held strategy of generally asking his cornerbacks to stick to one side instead of following a specific receiver or moving around.

Last year, Riq Woolen was the usual starter on the right side – or, the left-hand side of the quarterback – with Devon Witherspoon on the left side in the base defense and Tre Brown on the left side when Witherspoon moved inside to play in the nickel or dime.

While training camp is a time when the Seahawks will do some experimentation and Woolen could get some snaps on the left side and Brown on the right, Macdonald said that for now, he expects to stick with having the cornerbacks stay on their usual side.

“We’ve done several things (in his past),” he said. “We’ve matched guys, we’ve played field and boundary, we’ve played right and left. I think it depends a lot on who you’re playing and their operation. If they’re going to be hiding guys and moving a lot and you’re matching, that’s a little bit tougher. If one guy’s on one side, it’s a little bit easier to match the skill set of the guys on your team, so those are things that we’ll consider as we go.

“Right now, the guys are playing right and left, and we do the same thing with safeties. As camp starts to declare and the roster starts to declare, then we start to move them around and get a little bit more specialized.”

Geno Smith off to a good start

Wednesday reiterated what was also evident during the offseason program – Geno Smith is the clear starter at quarterback. Smith worked exclusively throughout with the first-team offense while Sam Howell went with the second team and P.J. Walker – signed as a free agent in June – with the third team.

Smith had several highlight throws during team sessions, including a perfectly-placed ball in traffic to DK Metcalf that Metcalf was able to leap and grab against tight coverage from Brown, as well as a long completion on a fade route to Tyler Lockett.

“Just really respect how he’s approached everything,’’ Macdonald said. “We’re on the record with how much we love him, how much of a great worker he is, and he looked really good today.”

Macdonald, though, said he liked what he saw out of all of the quarterbacks.

“Man, I thought they were sharp,’’ he said. “I’m really impressed with those guys. Working through progressions, (the) poise. I thought the accuracy was good, you saw us connect on some deep balls. I’m really excited about them.”

It’s camp for the coaches, as well

It’s worth remembering that not only is Macdonald in his first year, but Seattle’s coaching staff includes only one holdover – defensive passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach Karl Scott – with many of the assistants working with each other for the first time.

To get a leg up on perfecting their gameday communication, many of the coaches wore headsets during practice Wednesday, and particularly during team sessions when plays are relayed in to players on the field. Macdonald said new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, who spent the last two years at UW, suggested the idea.

“That’s something that Ryan brought to the table, something he had done in his past,’’ Macdonald said. “We’re just trying to do the best things. It’s something that we’re testing out right now. I think it’s probably going to stick around. It’s just another opportunity for us to really sharpen our operation, especially in the situational periods, with me being able to go back and forth calling the defense (and) during situation times on how we’re going to handle the clock. Maximizing those reps is definitely the idea.”