Derick Hall has been one of the more visible Seahawks in this year’s run of HBO’s Hard Knocks, and one practice clip showed exactly why that can be a double-edged sword.
During a Seattle session, the former Auburn standout got too close to the quarterback for Mike Macdonald’s taste. Hall had recently signed a 3-year, $42 million contract extension, but that didn’t spare him from a sharp rebuke when the coach thought he was pressing the issue near a protected passer.
Hall said he was working on his “hump” move, the power-rush technique where a defender tries to shed a blocker on the way to the quarterback. Macdonald wasn’t interested in the explanation.
The exchange played out like this:
MACDONALD: “Derick, Derick, Derick. What are you doing?
What are you doing? Why are you bull-rushing right now near the quarterback?”
HALL: “I’m not. I tried to hump. I can’t see behind me.”
MACDONALD: “You can’t be trying to hump right now. This isn’t the time for it.”
Not long after that, Hall again got too close to the quarterback in Macdonald’s view and was taken off the field.
HALL: “Oh my gosh! What the f*** did I do?”
The 25-year-old Hall has been a key name in Seattle’s pass rush story. He broke out with eight sacks in 2024, his second season after the Seahawks selected him in the second round out of Auburn. He followed that with a quieter 2025 season, though he finished it with two sacks in Seattle’s 29-13 win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX.
New episodes of Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Seahawks air at 8 p.m. Central each Tuesday through Sept. 1 on HBO and HBO Max. Seattle opens its 2026 preseason Saturday night at home against the Dallas Cowboys.
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