The Seahawks are holding their cards close for Friday night’s preseason finale in Kansas City, and that means no starter run at all against the Chiefs.
Head coach Mike Macdonald said Thursday that Seattle will sit its starters for the third straight preseason game, while third-string quarterback Jalen Milroe will handle the entire night under center. It’s a full-game audition for the 2025 third-round pick, who has already taken a fair share of lumps this August.
Milroe has completed 11 of 19 passes for 88 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions this preseason. He’s added six carries for 52 yards, but he’s also been sacked five times.
Across his nine possessions at quarterback, the Seahawks still haven’t put points on the board. Over the first two preseason games, Milroe shared the workload with backup Drew Lock.
Friday also marks another chance for Milroe to clean up the rough edges from last year’s preseason finale, when he started against the Green Bay Packers and was hit hard, taking five sacks and losing three fumbles.
“I think it’s really great that he has an opportunity - just like the Green Bay game last year - where you’re not subbing in and you’re not coming in at halftime,” Macdonald said. “You’re going through the whole process of starting a game and getting in rhythm and managing the situations - all those things that we want from our quarterback.
“So I’m excited to see him play. It’s a great opportunity for him.”
Seattle will also use the game to give former two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Trevon Diggs his preseason debut. Macdonald said Diggs, who signed with the team on Aug. 19, will get on the field against Kansas City.
Diggs’ early career with the Dallas Cowboys was electric: 17 interceptions and 49 pass breakups over his first three seasons from 2020-22, including an NFL-best 11 picks in 2021. But knee injuries have slowed him over the past three seasons, and Dallas waived him last December before the Green Bay Packers claimed him and later released him after the playoffs.
Now he’s in the mix for a spot at the back end of Seattle’s 53-man roster.
“He’s gonna get a look tomorrow, which is exciting,” Macdonald said. “He’s done a good job.
He’s had an attention to detail, doing all the things we’re asking him to do. It’s not an easy ask coming from training not with a club to coming in trying to play high-level football.
But given the opportunity, he’s definitely made the most of it, and we’ll see where it goes.”
Another Seahawks player set to sit is rookie running back Jadarian Price, who will miss Friday’s game as well. That leaves him headed into Week 1 without any preseason snaps.
Price dealt with lower-body soreness earlier in camp, though he returned to practice last week. Macdonald said the team still feels good about him, even if the usual preseason reps never materialized.
“He’s done a great job, he really has - all three downs,” Macdonald said. “He’s a rookie in terms of there’s gonna be things we’re gonna need to attack in his game that will show itself in games. We haven’t been afforded the luxury of having the bodies right now at running back to give him the reps maybe in a game that you normally would give to a rookie runner.
“But he’s shown (enough) that we’re really confident in him going into Week 1. He’s kind of earned that decision for us to feel good about it, even though just about any other circumstance you definitely want really a rookie to get preseason exposure and experience.”
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