August 8, 2024 • 34 mins
The Mariners are back home, and things are not going great as they're down 0-2 to the Chicago White Sox, and are now 0.5 back on the Astros. Gregg Bell was at traing camp on Wednesday and multiple fights broke out, we play audio from Mike Macdonald on w/ NFL Networks Tom Pelissero from Wednesday.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
They're having a kennelworth of dogs that are coming on
the field to practice frisbee catching. That looks like part
of the entertainment today. And maybe they're having the dogs
out on the field to make sure they're no fighting.
I don't know, maybe they're a tack dogs. We'll stay away,
Greg Dogs guard Dogs headlines first brought you by Venue
Kings dot Com. Fight they at the Seahawks yesterday, Trey
(00:22):
Brown ripped off Jake Bobo's helmet, then threw an uppercut
that bloodied the bridge of his nose. He had to
go leave and the trainer had to clean him up
at blood all over the front of his jersey. Dk
Metcalf and Trey Brown then went at each other at
the end of another running play on the next series
of Eleven on eleven, Metcalf ripped off Brown's helmet tried
to hit him with it. It's safe to Cavan Wallace instead.
(00:44):
You may have seen that in the background of an
NFL Network live shot here from his trainy kipping Metcalf
throwing way on a helmet around was on national television.
Derek Hall, the outside linebacker and rookie Christian Haynes then
fought in a pass rest drail. It was mayhem. It
was weirdly like watching The Longest Yard. I don't know
if you've ever watched that movie Chris nineteen seventies, Burt Reynolds.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Yeah, I'm not gonna lie. I saw the remake and
I'm sure a lot of people my age are right
there with me.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Yeah, the original. It was like watching The Longest Yard.
It was like a practice in a prison yard with
players just waiting on each other. And this is what
Mike McDonald. He created this, I mean, this is what
he wanted. I'm not criticizing him. I'm just staate. In fact,
he wanted the envelope pushed and he got it. He
(01:31):
wanted toughness, he wanted intensity, and he got it. And
that's what yesterday was. We'll talk a lot more about
Mike McDonald's leadership of that. It's really interesting to me
to watch him as a thirty seven year old first
time head coach from the leadership perspective of how he
is motivating and establishing his tone on what he wants.
(01:51):
Let's face it, he's here to fix one of the
worst defenses in football. That's his main job and that's
why he's here. He's They were thirtieth in the NFL overall,
they were thirty first against the run. They weren't tough enough.
They didn't tackle well enough. They didn't stop blockers from
taking themselves out of plays and blowing up defensive fronts.
(02:13):
They have to be tougher, and Mike McDonald part of
being tougher is to condone a lot. What led up
to yesterday. I've been talking about and writing about at
the News Tribune for a week and a half, two
weeks about how chippy every practice is and how Mike
McDonald seems to be okay with it because he wants
to establish that kind of a tone for this team.
(02:34):
And yesterday and his words, they went right at the edge.
We'll talk about that and about more of that. Fourteenth
practice of training camp is this afternoon here, the last
one with fans of the summer, by the way, and
then they go into more of the game week mode
now that the training the preseason game start on Saturday.
The Mariners, they lost to the trade again last night
at the Yard, six to two. Mariners traded three to
(02:55):
two in the bottom of the eighth, and then this
happened ball, towering fly ball to center. How much is
on it at the wall?
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Oh, my goodness, meadows with the potential game saving catch
for the Tigers.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
That was kyl Rawley who was robbed from what would
have been another game of a home run on east
side of the plate, and that one would have put
the Mariners up four to three in the bottom of
the eighth inning, And it was over the wall and
the center fitter leaped over and made a spectacular, highlight
real catch that denied the Mariners of the lead. Yeah,
(03:37):
and you could say, well, the Tigers scored three runs
in the top of the ninth, so that ultimately didn't matter. Well,
they would not have pitched Thornton and Diaz in the
ninth inning. They would have had their main guns out there.
They probably they would have gone straight to if the lead,
they would have gone straight to Munos at the top
of the ninth of the four to three lead, had
that catch not happened at the wall. Instead, it did,
(03:57):
two Mariners relievers give up three runs in the top
of the night and that's how the Mariners lost six
to two. Houston beat Texas and now the Mariners trail
of trash cans by a half game for first place
in the American League West. Tonight's Game three of the
Mariners Tigers series at the Yard and Soto Brian Woo
five and one record, two point eight. E Rara starts
for the Mariners. That's a six forty first pitch on
(04:20):
Root Sports four nine, four to five one. You're feeling
about the Mariners. It was a couple of days ago. Oh,
the offense is on the way back after they took
they won a series over the weekend. Oh, they're on
the way back. Meat the Phillies two out of three.
Now they lose to in a row to the Tigers
and their offense, which were doing it only home only
(04:41):
runs last night with the two run home run by
Kyle Rowley four nine, four to five one on the
telemore dude, text line of your current feelings of the
Mariners who just kind of yanked with our feelings and
emotions and perspective about their team depending on what series
they're playing in. Other NFL news, not all teams in
the league are keeping their starters out of this this
weekend's first preseason game. The Buffalo Bills are going to
(05:03):
start quarterback Josh Allen and their first teams on Saturday
against the Bears, and indications here from Seahawks training camp
are that the starters are going to play Saturday against
the Chargers. We talked about this, this is an unusual summer.
It's not just shelled the starters, get them loose and
warmed up for the regular season. They're still installing offense
and defense, and most of all, they're learning communication from
(05:25):
sideline to the huddle, from huddle to players, and then
at the line of scrimmage with play calls and changes
and protection calls. All of that's brand new, and the
starters need to learn that a game speed, not just
in practice, which is why I think that they're going
to play more than a normal preseason, and Mike McDonald
has started to indicate that's the case. We'll talk more
about that later as well. Gino Smith may be he
(05:48):
may be the one starter that may not play because
he's only three practices back from that hip and knee
issues of last week that had him out for six days.
More on Mike McDonald than what he had to say yesterday.
NFL Network is going to be in our next segment
elsewhere in the NFL Super Bowl fifty two MVP Nick
Foles is retiring after leves seasons with the Eagles, the Rams,
(06:08):
the Chiefs, Jaguars, Bears, and Colts. The Chicago White Sox
and Baseball fired manager pedrugerfall after they ended their twenty
one game losing streak, which tied in nineteen eighty eight
Baltimore Orioles for the longest streak in American League history.
At the Olympics in Paris, the US women's basketball team
advanced to the semifinals with a win over Nigeria. The
(06:30):
American men's basketball team plays today against Serbia. I think
it's a twelve to thirty local time tip off in
their Olympic semifinal. Noel Lyles today is going to try
to win the two hundred meter final after he became
the first American twenty years to win the one hundred
at the Olympics a couple days ago. Back to what
I saw yesterday here at Seahawks training camp. This had
(06:53):
been brewing for days and they very very chippy chippy,
to say the least. That's kind of understating it to
call it chippyctices here. Once the pads have come on
in the last week and it boiled over yesterday. And
it started pretty early actually, and the impetus that started
the whole thing. They were doing a run heavy scrimmage
(07:13):
eleven on eleven in full pads, Trey Brown and Jake
Bobo on the right sideline, not even near the play
or getting their hands up underath each other's chin straps,
push and shoven and then Brown just ripped Bobo's well
after the play, ripped Bobo's helmet off, and then delivered
a solid uppercut. I mean, that was a punch, and
(07:35):
Bobo felt it obviously, and he fought back, and they
were scrapping and everybody jumped in. Bobo had to go
off on the back of the field with a trainer.
He missed about a series and a half while he
got his blood finally controlled. Was bleeding all over his jersey.
He had a cut across the bridge of his nose.
I tucked him briefly after the practice. He said that
(07:56):
was a pretty good blow. So that was one, And
I thought, okay, is this the line? Is this where
Mike McDonald's is enough. You ripped a helmet off, you
punched the guy and bled his nose and hit to
come out of practice. But no, Trey Brown went right
back in the next play. It did even come out,
didn't even go to the sideline, stayed in the scrimmage.
Then the next series, after Bobo had just jogged from
(08:19):
the trainer back into the sideline to get ready to
go back into the scrimmage, another running play near the
goal line, and DK Metcalf no doubt mad at the
fact that Brown had already gone after one of his
fellow wide receivers. He and Brown were going at it
again on a running play away from the ball, and
(08:40):
both hands under chin and Metcalf ripped Trey Brown's helmet off,
and then he took it and started swinging it. He
was trying to hit Brown. He ended up hitting safety
Kavan Wallace instead of Course, hitting a guy with a
helmet these days is not quite as damaging as it
used to be thanks to the guardian caps that they
all have on him. But still there wasn't exactly a
(09:01):
good will intentions there, and everyone jumped on everybody. Jake
Bobo ran off the sideline to jump into that fray,
cut nose and all, and then I thought to myself, Okay,
is this the line that Mike McDonald's gonna draw, and
it was he finally stopped practice, turned off the music,
called everybody into the middle of the field, including general
(09:22):
manager John Schneider, who was at the edge of the circle.
Everybody listening to the coach talk. Later on, players said
that he McDonald basically said, look, we have to be
smart about not hurting our own players. We can't do
this and let this effect us in a game. But
he didn't exactly can rip everybody and admonish them, other
(09:42):
than the fact they can't hurt each other. And he
must have said some of the effect of any more fighting,
and you're worth throwing you out of the practice because
the next fight, the next real fight. There were a
couple of skirmishes d s Gridge and Johnson the corner back,
and a couple things after plays of eleven on eleven.
But then when they broke the scrimmage and went into
individual group drills and back to the offensive defensive line
(10:03):
one on one pass rush drills, which is always the
most contentious of any camp day. Anyway, about four or
five reps in it was Derek Hall against the rookie
Christian Haynes, and Haynes rode him behind the quarterback and
well after the play kept pushing in, pushing in his chest.
Hall didn't appreciate that, and as they walked back to
the line of scrimmys to do a second rep, he
(10:24):
was yapping and pointing at Haynes. Haynes pointed and jabbed
his finger into Hall's chest plate, and then they were
on and it was a fight there and bofins of
the defensive lineman jumped in. Mike McDonald was about fifty
yards away watching the quarterbacks strot to wide receivers and
defensive backs in the other other field. He came from
(10:44):
the other field and kicked first haul and then immediately
after that Haynes off the field and sent him into
the facility. First time we've seen that in the entire camp.
First time at Mike McDonald's head coach in your career,
he's done that. And oh, by the way, Jody Allen
was here yesterday I practice for one of the only times,
(11:05):
and vice chair Burke Cold. They were walking right by
the Hall Haines fight when it started, and so there
was the line. We finally saw the line. It took
two helmets getting wrapped off, a player getting a nose bloodied,
and a helmet being chucked by one player into a
teammate before Mike McDonald drew his line, and that is
(11:28):
we're not going to hurt each other. But it's the
intensity again, Chris, that they're looking for. Mike McDonald's trying
to set that he's wanted this camp to be this
way throughout, and yesterday was a little bit over the top,
but it kind of personified that.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Absolutely, it's shaping up. It's shaping up for this team
to be a physical team, no nonsense. And I'm excited
for their first preseason game to see what his team
brings physicality wise, going up against someone that that's not
their teammate. That's kind of been the discussion throughout the
last few days. As they're tired of hidding each other.
(12:05):
Can they go out there and make plays against someone
else where they'd be the Chargers, the Titans, you name it,
the Brown through I think their last preseason game. So
with that being said, they're gonna get an opportunity this
weekend to channel that energy towards someone else that's not
their teammate. And I'm glad that Mike McDonald is drawing
a line. And as you mentioned, now you know the line,
so let's not get back to that as we continue
(12:27):
on with practices. So definitely excited to see what this
team is all about come their first preseason game, as
they inch forward, what they're a month away from opening
day against the Broncos, So they're getting closer and closer.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Well, again, the point is that line is really high.
I mean, it takes a lot guys punching guys and
they're not getting thrown out. In fact, Brown stayed in
the scrimmage. So that is the tone he's trying to set.
And the physicality and the intensity four the tone we're
do text line. When's game time, it's total a time.
Your thoughts about this? Are you all for it? I
(13:02):
mean there's some fans who are really excited to see
that this looks like the Seahawks of yesteryear of a
ten years ago, of Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas and
Mayhem practices and all of that. Are you is this
a good sign to you? Good sign? At four nine
four five? One good sign, bad sign or no sign?
Really no news, no sign. How do you feel about that?
(13:24):
Do you feel that this is indicative of a positive
change in this team? And it's psyche, it's demeanor and
it's tenor do you feel like it's a negative that
can't help, but you feel like this is really no
big deal at all, and this is training camp in
the middle of August and you're just tired of hitting
on each other, which is a little bit of what
Mike McDonald said yesterday. Coming up next, we're going to
talk more about what Mike McDonald said about yesterday's fighting.
(13:48):
He had a little bit to say to NFL Network
and it also again how the day represented who Mike
McDonald is as a leader. We'll talk about that next
and more. Eleven o'clock again, we'll have Mike Durrell on
the air, rookie offensive tackle for the Seahawks. All that
more coming up next on ninety three point three KJRFM.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
Now, our NonStop coverage Jump Seahawks training Camp continues from
the Virginia Mason Athletics Center, brought to you by Northwest
Handling Systems and the twenty twenty four Boeing Classic Gaugus
Fifth through the eleven. Now back to the Greg Bell
Show with Christopher Kidd on Sports Radio ninety three point
three kjr FM.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Hi, Welcome back, Greg Bella The News Tribune and Christopher
Kidd with you at the Virginia Mason Athletics Center right
off the practice field, which is a boxing ring. Yesterday
heer fight Day at Seahawks training camp. Today it's dog day.
They're dogs practicing there, catching their Frisbees. Going on right now.
Another day of fans, last day of fans at training camp.
(14:53):
Then tomorrow they go into a walk through mode before
they get on a plane to go to Los Angeles
for the Saturday preseason game four h five start time
on Saturday afternoon on Channel six callng TV locally. And
then next week they're in Tennessee. After Monday's practice Tuesday,
they practice here. Tuesday night they fly to Tennessee joint
practices with the Titans that are sure to be wild
(15:15):
next week in Nashville on Wednesday and Thursday. I'll be
broadcasting from Nashville from the field where the Titans and
the Seahawks will be practicing together on Wednesday and Thursday.
And then the second preseason game is on Saturday in
Nashville between the Seahawks and Titans. And then they don't
get back here again until the Monday after that, which
is the twentieth of August nineteenth of August, and then
(15:39):
five days later they play the Cleveland Browns in the
final of the three preseason games. That one's at home
at loom And Field Saturday, August to twenty fourth, and
then cut down day from ninety to fifty three players
on the first roster of the regular season is August
twenty seventh, so they are it just boom, boom boom.
Once the game start, the preseason kind of ticks away quickly,
(16:00):
which is why Mike McDonald said today basically is the
last true day of training camp between the fans and
the tempo of the practices and US against us and
all of that that will end today at the fourteenth
and final practice here at Seahawks Minichamp training camp. The
thirteenth practice was wild. We talked about the fights last
(16:20):
segment and how we saw Mike McDonald finding and explain
to his players what his limit is. They saw it
for the first time. The NFL Network crew was out
here broadcasting live from Seahawks training camp across the country.
They caught dk Metcalf throwing a helmet in the direction
(16:41):
of Trey Brown on the back of a live set
interview with three talking heads right in front of the fray.
This is what Mike McDonald had to say Yesterday's the
NFL Network about that and more.
Speaker 5 (16:53):
And we're here now for the Insiders, joined by the
head coach of the Sales Seahawks.
Speaker 6 (16:57):
Mike McDonald. Thanks Tom, good to see you. Brolan.
Speaker 5 (16:59):
So what are you excited about out here? You're a
couple of weeks in. You haven't gotten to the games yet.
I know you kind of.
Speaker 6 (17:03):
Temper your expectations, especially in the young guys. But what
do you like to your seeing.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Yeah, we've been getting after it. I'm proud of how
we responded today. We came out, we were ready to practice.
I don't know what the numbers are, but we've been
out here, I don't know, fourteen last sixteen days. I
think we're tired of going against one another, you know,
but the guys are bearded. We had we had a
great practice and we're you know, we're excited for Saturday.
Speaker 5 (17:23):
It was it was feisty out here. There were a
few we were we had our face forward the camera.
We kept going like what's going on now? DK played
a little lack of mole at one point, where's the
line for you in terms of you want the intensity,
you want the competition, you probably don't want people using
their helmet as well.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
We're right on the line right now, and I think
the guys realize that, you know, let's take care of
one another. Definitely want people fighting out here and stuff,
and especially against our own teammates. But and then DK
gave a great messageant of the practice, just kind of
putting us everything in perspective.
Speaker 6 (17:49):
The guys finished it out the right way. So proud
of our guys.
Speaker 5 (17:52):
What do you say in that moment you called the
team up after I think it was the second of
the little scrums that you had there.
Speaker 6 (17:56):
What's the message? It was positive and the guys are
in a good spot.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
But just remind him why we're out here, what we're
trying to get accomplished, and take a deep breath and
let's finish the practice the right way.
Speaker 6 (18:05):
And we did.
Speaker 5 (18:05):
You've been coaching a long time, relatively speaking, here, this
is your first time being in that head chair. There's
all kinds of things like this, right, controlling the messaging,
your team and the culture everything else.
Speaker 6 (18:15):
What are you learning about yourself in this process?
Speaker 3 (18:18):
It's all these examples of an opportunities to reinforce what
you said you wanted to be about. So those are
the things you're seeking. And I think the guys they
appreciate when you like point stuff out of Hey, we
said we're going.
Speaker 6 (18:30):
To be like this. Are we committed to that or not?
Speaker 3 (18:32):
And I think when they realized, hey, you know, these
are the things we said we wanted to be about.
This is an opportunity to actually, you know, put our
mouth money where our mouth is, so to speak.
Speaker 6 (18:39):
And I think they've responded to that.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
An opportunity to reinforce what you told him you were
going to be about. Put your money where your mouth is.
That's what Mike McDonald said to NFL Network yesterday, and
that's really what it is. He's trying to be consistent
in his messaging of needing toughness and wanting intensity, and
then he practices it on the field. And that's why
these practices have been so chippy. Not the least of itch.
(19:06):
Also is that the players are trying to impress twenty
two new coaches, a head coach, a new offensive coordinator,
new defensive coordinator, a special teams coordinator. They're trying to
make inroads with those coaches and gain reputations with them
of toughness. And McDonald has stated that from the first
team meeting back in the spring that that's what the
type of team he wanted. It's a type of team
(19:27):
he just coached in Baltimore when he had the number
one defense in the NFL, and that's why he's here.
So to him, this is a consistency matter. And while
some may say that it looks like absolute mayhem out
here and inmates running the asylum and all of that,
this is very calculated by Mike McDonald. He wants to
make sure he has the respect of his players that
(19:48):
when he says something in team meetings and all these
offseason plannings, that he actually practices that on the field.
And that is why these practices have been so so
he did and why McDonald has let a lot of
it go. It is interesting from a leadership perspective, and
it is certainly different than it was here for fourteen
years under Pete Carroll, who had a much more paternal
(20:12):
arm around you approach to how he did training camp
and how he wanted to run his team. Now, it's
not to say there weren't fights here in the last
few years, and I can remember the jermainea Fetti won
in particularly with Frank Clark that resulted in miss time.
But those are one offs, and they were an entire
practice full of bout after bout after bout after and
(20:34):
during plays like there were yesterday. So it is different here.
And for those of us who have covered this team
for more than a day and not, the difference is
pretty obvious. So what are they going to do this weekend? Wildly,
it's not just going to be reserves that are going
to hit on another team for a change. When the
Seahawks play the Chargers in the first preseason game. Mike
McDonald made clear yesterday on NFL Network and later on
(20:57):
in the segment of that interview that the starters are
going to play Saturday. There's what he.
Speaker 6 (21:00):
Said, how much running you're gonna give these guys your starters?
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Oh well, Gino, we're still figuring that out right now
for Saturday, based on how he feels and who else
is going to start, But we'd like to get the
starters out there and you know, get ready to go,
especially just being new schemes, you know, new systems, operation
and things like that. So I think we'll see a
lot of our guys on you know, the beginning part
of the game on Saturday, and then you know, we'll
evaluate it from there.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
So the traditional well we're not going to play the starters,
we're not going to risk him to injury. That doesn't
apply here because they're they're installing Ryan Grubs offense that's
not yet done. Grub this week saying is about seventy
five eighty percent installed. Mike McDonald's defense is not fully
installed yet and he has said he doesn't like the
communication how the communication has been at times in training camp.
(21:45):
He has in fact slowed down some of the installation
to get the communication better between the sideline and the
field and then from the huddle to the guys the
eleven that are lined up in formation right before the snap.
There's all kinds of communication nuances have to occur after
they break the huddle. On defense and the special teams,
they don't even know what kickoff looks like because they've
(22:06):
never done it before. It's a brand new kickoff and
kickoff return system that they don't have any idea how
that works because nobody has done it before. So yes,
there is value and need for these starters to play,
and so Chris on Saturday, there is more than a
reason than just watching Seahawk colors run across your TV
(22:26):
screen to tune into the game on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Oh yeah, big time, you're gonna have You're gonna see. Well,
I hope you know can play, because that would really
make everything complete. Your starting quarterback, a couple of receivers,
you're starting our offense, and you get to see just
a glimpse of what this offense could really be. I
don't know if that means they get to play a series.
I have no clue what it will look like. But
at least now we're getting an indication that there's gonna
(22:49):
be some guys who normally don't play. In previous years
when regards to preseason, they don't play much until the
last preseason game. This year is a little different just
because of everything that's going on schematically and everything is
brand news. So that makes sense because my question was
going in, Okay, who is gonna play? I know that
second third string, well, third string for sure, fourth thing
definitely second string guys most likely. But I'm guessing the starters,
(23:13):
what's their role going to be going into the preseason.
But it sounds as if Mike McDonald's willing to put
that out there that the guys are gonna play get
some time, so we'll get to learn a little bit
more outside of okay, just practicing and seeing things. I'm
really excited to see the defense. I don't know where
you stand, Greg, but maybe you might be more excited
to see the offense. But man, I'm excited to see
(23:33):
what this defense looks like, even if it is for
a series.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
The defense has to get better, and I want to
watch how they'd move around before the snap. How much
are they actually going to reveal of the Mike McDonald
Ravens system. I don't think much. It's gonna be pretty vanilla.
I don't expect them to be doing much of the
changing and disguising that the Ravens did last year. I
think that's coming, and I don't think they're even fully
(23:58):
installed on a defense to start doing that in games.
But just how are they How are they against the run?
For instance, Jonathan Hankins is a guy who's probably going
to start a lot at age thirty two, tenth NFL season,
normally wouldn't play in the first preseason game. The one
true nose tackle, veteran nose tackle they have. There are
guys like Tyler Lockett who may not play. I could
(24:21):
see Julian Love, the Pro Bowl safety, perhaps not playing
or playing just a little bit. Well, Lockett wouldn't need
to play necessarily, but and he rarely does in the
preseason anyway. But I could see Metcalf playing, and Jackson
Smith and Jigba, maybe Kenneth Walker a series or two.
But it's just it's different. The objectives of this training
(24:42):
camp of having to install all these new systems makes
it different on its face. And that's why I thought
since coming into this camp that these preseason games are
going to be different. We're going to talk to Mike
McDonald after practice today and we'll quiz him more about
who's going to play and how much. But indications are
as you heard right there, that yeah, starters are going
to play Saturday, which makes it a different preseason opener.
(25:05):
So tell your friends there's a reason to watch the
Seahawks preseason game at four or five on Saturday on
Kong TV locally. It'll be This is such a fascinating experiment, Chris.
Those of us have been out here for fourteen fifteen
years watching Pete Carroll do it one way. Heck, I
remember Jim Mora his one training camp. I was out
(25:27):
for training camps with Mike Holmgren all the way back
to winning with the Cheney at Eastern Washington University, and
those were all pretty much same system. With the exception
of the one off year of Moro which went four
and twelve and he was gone after one season. We've
not seen a total installation rebuild like we're seeing right
now in a generation. And from preseason playing time down
(25:51):
to allowing fights in practice to the pace of installation
and communications every day is an experiment out here. Try
to grow this whole program. These preseason games gonna matter
a little bit more. They are, and I would expect
the starters they may end up playing, all three of them.
We'll see, but they Mike McDonald indicating that they are
(26:12):
gonna play on Saturday four nine, four five one on
the Tulem. We'll do text sign. Yet another question we
have for you is what are you excited to see
on Saturday knowing that the starters are gonna play. Maybe
not Gino Smith because of the knee hip issue from
the past week, but most other starters Mike McDonald indicating
are gonna play Who are you excited to see most?
What are you excited to see most? In the preseason
(26:34):
opener on Saturday at four nine four five one on
the tunnelm we do text sign and it's game time.
It's totally time at eleven thirty to be time to
read back your text and answering those questions. Coming up next,
we'll talk more about what I saw yesterday in the
thirteenth practice beside Jess fighting and a lot of other
things that are going on around training camp. As the
(26:55):
trick dogs jump in front of me catching frisbees in
their mouths. Live from Seahawks training Camp at the Virginia
Mason Athletic Center on ninety three point three KJRFM. Hi,
(27:25):
welcome back, Craig Bella, the News Tribute Christopher Kid with you.
I'm from Seahawks training camp. Fourteenth practice day to day,
the last day with fans out at this afternoon at
one o'clock one to about three thirty or so, and
practice ends and fans will get their last chance at
autographs after practice ends. Well, wonder if fans get an
(27:45):
eye fool that they got yesterday. We're ooing and on
and hooping and hollering, and they were pretty excited to
see some of the fights that went on here. It
was like a hockey game breaking out, except the teammates
going against each other. They may be in full pads
again today. It would be the last one of the week.
I would assume Tomorrow, of course, he'll be the walkthrough board.
(28:06):
They may be in shells like they were on Tuesday.
That's set up yesterday to be the most physical practice
of the week, and it sure was. We played last
segment for you. Mike McDonald's saying that he wants the
starters to play, and the plan is for starters to
play Saturday at the Chargers in the first preseason game.
That's again that's a four h five kickoff on Saturday afternoon,
an unusual start time, and locally it's going to be
(28:29):
on Kong TV channel six sixteen, depending on your cable system,
and then King five is going to have the next
two weeks after the Olympics end, and then the next
two preseason game will be on King five. But Gino
Smith might be the one starter, the one veteran starter
who won't start and play on Saturday because of the
fact that he's just coming off that knee and hip
issue from the past week. He missed four practices and
(28:51):
yesterday was his third one back. He still looks sharp, Chris.
His throws are instride on target. He has thrown an
interception or to every other practice or so, but he
seems to be the installation of the offense doesn't seem
to be overwhelming him. He's not hesitating. He seems to
be on top of that piece of it. Ryan Grubbed,
(29:13):
the offensive coordinator, has talked about how competitive and how
he loves the competitiveness of Gino Smith even in practices,
how he's trying to win every rep, and how he
has handled the load that he's putting on Seahawk quarterbacks
to all that he wants him to do in his
new system. What's the offensive line going to look like?
(29:34):
That's really what determines whether grub and Gino Smith have
success this year. Yesterday the line was back to what
it has been for most of training camp. Charles Cross
has been the starter for years now, since his first
Mini camp of his rookie year. He's the left tackle.
Laken Tomlinson came back from his veteran rest day yesterday
was the left guard. It had been Christian Haynes at
(29:56):
left guard with the starters. When the day before, on Tuesday,
when Lake and Tomlinson at age thirty two got a
veteran rust day over with Timmy was the center yesterday?
Why not Connor Williams, Well, he hasn't reported yet to
the team. He maybe we expect him in it either
today or tomorrow. And when Connor Williams does sign officially
and join the team, it's no sure thing that he's
(30:17):
going to go straight into full pads practicing. He's eight
and a half months moved from tearing his ACL and
having reconstructive knee surgery with the Miami Dolphins, and while
the Seahawks think he can play and will be ready
to play physically for the season, it's only going to
what it's April eighth or August eighth right now. And
the need, first of all is for him to get
(30:39):
acclimated to football shape. He hasn't been in pad since
December early December when he hurt his knee, so he
needs to get into football shape first, and then he's
got to get into the install There's a steep and
quick learning curve for Connor Williams in the four weeks
between where he signs in the first real game September eighth,
a week a month from today. Denver at right guard
(31:02):
yesterday was Anthony Bradford, as it has been for most
of training camp, and then at right tackle was McLendon curtis,
who this spring was the starting right guard when Anthony
Bradford had any ankle issue. Mccurtis signed last year off
Waivers was a guard and now he is playing tackle.
So there's a guy, another guy that can be valuable
(31:22):
to make this team who can play multiple positions. Ray
Kwan O'Neill is a tackle who's been now playing guard
this training camp, another example of a player who can
be a swing guy at multiple positions. The right tackle
yesterday still wasn't Abe lucas we don't know when he's
going to finally come back from his knee surgery he
had in the off season. And it wasn't George Fan
who took what appeared to be a veteran rest day
(31:44):
as he was in flat shoes and jim clothes watching practice,
So that meant it was McLendon curtis at right tackle.
So right now it's been McLennon, Curtis and George pant
As the two right tackles awaiting Abe Lucas's return whenever
that may be. Lucas remains on the Physically Unable to
Perform list. He can come off that at any time,
but there are still no signs of win that might be.
(32:06):
Mike McDonald has said that is slower. The recovery for
Lucas from the surgery is slower than the team anticipated.
We asked Ryan Greb a couple of days ago, the
offensive coording about his offensive line. He says, we're getting there,
and he liked the competition that they're bringing in at center.
The fact that they're signing Connor Williams, the fact that
Nick Harris has had his first first team reps of
camp this week for OL with Timmy tell you that
(32:30):
they are not settled or satisfied with OLI with Timmy
at center, and they're making changes there that they could
end up being Connor Williams, the six year veteran by
the opening game September eighth, if he can get up
to football acclamation and health speed by then. So Chris,
that's the big thing. The offensive line and the offensive
line we see Saturday against the Chargers probably not gonna
(32:51):
be the offensive line we see September eighth against Denver.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
Likely not. But this is the cards they're deal they're
dealing with it, and the competition is on at center.
So I would assume every single player is gonna get
a opportunity to showcase they can run the offense with
Gino protect him, be efficient in the run game. So
that's important. And who knows is gonna start It sounds
(33:13):
like Charles Cross is locked in and uh, Tomlinson's guard. Okay,
so as you mentioned, there's you know, I think he
said sixty of the old line is figured out.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
I have center, right guard, right tackle, I'm sure right now,
although Bradford has the inside tracker right guard.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
So those are gonna be some We're gonna see some
camp quote unquote. The camp battles are going to be there.
And that's another facet of the game that I am
a little intrigued about. But again it's more so the
defense because I want to see how much disguising McDonald
shows in his first preseason game. Does he do it
at all? You just go out there and it's vanilla.
I doesn't want to show anything.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
Happen, but whether you like it or not, they don't
want the rest of the league see. Well that's fair
for the rest of that.
Speaker 6 (33:57):
We understand that.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
We get there's a little chess match to everything teams
do offensively and defensively, so that won't be too much
of a Debbie downer, but I understand it. So yeah,
it should be a fun game. And I know we
get a few texts in about what they're excited to see,
so yeah, keep sending them in four, nine, four or
five one. Were you excited most to see in the
Seahawks first preseason game? Offense, defense, position battles, you name it,
(34:20):
whatever you got texted in. So yeah, it should be
a good first preseason game, regardless of the win loss,
but excited to see what these guys can do with
this news game and new coaching staff.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
We'll read back your text at eleven thirty and the
to them we'll do text sign whents game time. It's
Tolly time coming up next. Why did Seahawks rookie OFFENSI
attackle Mike Durell stay at Division two Finley in Ohio
for six years, including a COVID year despite nil offers
from the Big Ten, the Big twelve, and other power programs.
He explains that with what I thought was a really
(34:51):
cool perspective on all that next from Seahawks training Camp
in the Virginia Mason Athletics Center, live on ninety three
point three KJRFM,
They're having a kennelworth of dogs that are coming on
the field to practice frisbee catching. That looks like part
of the entertainment today. And maybe they're having the dogs
out on the field to make sure they're no fighting.
I don't know, maybe they're a tack dogs. We'll stay away,
Greg Dogs guard Dogs headlines first brought you by Venue
Kings dot Com. Fight they at the Seahawks yesterday, Trey
(00:22):
Brown ripped off Jake Bobo's helmet, then threw an uppercut
that bloodied the bridge of his nose. He had to
go leave and the trainer had to clean him up
at blood all over the front of his jersey. Dk
Metcalf and Trey Brown then went at each other at
the end of another running play on the next series
of Eleven on eleven, Metcalf ripped off Brown's helmet tried
to hit him with it. It's safe to Cavan Wallace instead.
(00:44):
You may have seen that in the background of an
NFL Network live shot here from his trainy kipping Metcalf
throwing way on a helmet around was on national television.
Derek Hall, the outside linebacker and rookie Christian Haynes then
fought in a pass rest drail. It was mayhem. It
was weirdly like watching The Longest Yard. I don't know
if you've ever watched that movie Chris nineteen seventies, Burt Reynolds.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Yeah, I'm not gonna lie. I saw the remake and
I'm sure a lot of people my age are right
there with me.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Yeah, the original. It was like watching The Longest Yard.
It was like a practice in a prison yard with
players just waiting on each other. And this is what
Mike McDonald. He created this, I mean, this is what
he wanted. I'm not criticizing him. I'm just staate. In fact,
he wanted the envelope pushed and he got it. He
(01:31):
wanted toughness, he wanted intensity, and he got it. And
that's what yesterday was. We'll talk a lot more about
Mike McDonald's leadership of that. It's really interesting to me
to watch him as a thirty seven year old first
time head coach from the leadership perspective of how he
is motivating and establishing his tone on what he wants.
(01:51):
Let's face it, he's here to fix one of the
worst defenses in football. That's his main job and that's
why he's here. He's They were thirtieth in the NFL overall,
they were thirty first against the run. They weren't tough enough.
They didn't tackle well enough. They didn't stop blockers from
taking themselves out of plays and blowing up defensive fronts.
(02:13):
They have to be tougher, and Mike McDonald part of
being tougher is to condone a lot. What led up
to yesterday. I've been talking about and writing about at
the News Tribune for a week and a half, two
weeks about how chippy every practice is and how Mike
McDonald seems to be okay with it because he wants
to establish that kind of a tone for this team.
(02:34):
And yesterday and his words, they went right at the edge.
We'll talk about that and about more of that. Fourteenth
practice of training camp is this afternoon here, the last
one with fans of the summer, by the way, and
then they go into more of the game week mode
now that the training the preseason game start on Saturday.
The Mariners, they lost to the trade again last night
at the Yard, six to two. Mariners traded three to
(02:55):
two in the bottom of the eighth, and then this
happened ball, towering fly ball to center. How much is
on it at the wall?
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Oh, my goodness, meadows with the potential game saving catch
for the Tigers.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
That was kyl Rawley who was robbed from what would
have been another game of a home run on east
side of the plate, and that one would have put
the Mariners up four to three in the bottom of
the eighth inning, And it was over the wall and
the center fitter leaped over and made a spectacular, highlight
real catch that denied the Mariners of the lead. Yeah,
(03:37):
and you could say, well, the Tigers scored three runs
in the top of the ninth, so that ultimately didn't matter. Well,
they would not have pitched Thornton and Diaz in the
ninth inning. They would have had their main guns out there.
They probably they would have gone straight to if the lead,
they would have gone straight to Munos at the top
of the ninth of the four to three lead, had
that catch not happened at the wall. Instead, it did,
(03:57):
two Mariners relievers give up three runs in the top
of the night and that's how the Mariners lost six
to two. Houston beat Texas and now the Mariners trail
of trash cans by a half game for first place
in the American League West. Tonight's Game three of the
Mariners Tigers series at the Yard and Soto Brian Woo
five and one record, two point eight. E Rara starts
for the Mariners. That's a six forty first pitch on
(04:20):
Root Sports four nine, four to five one. You're feeling
about the Mariners. It was a couple of days ago. Oh,
the offense is on the way back after they took
they won a series over the weekend. Oh, they're on
the way back. Meat the Phillies two out of three.
Now they lose to in a row to the Tigers
and their offense, which were doing it only home only
(04:41):
runs last night with the two run home run by
Kyle Rowley four nine, four to five one on the
telemore dude, text line of your current feelings of the
Mariners who just kind of yanked with our feelings and
emotions and perspective about their team depending on what series
they're playing in. Other NFL news, not all teams in
the league are keeping their starters out of this this
weekend's first preseason game. The Buffalo Bills are going to
(05:03):
start quarterback Josh Allen and their first teams on Saturday
against the Bears, and indications here from Seahawks training camp
are that the starters are going to play Saturday against
the Chargers. We talked about this, this is an unusual summer.
It's not just shelled the starters, get them loose and
warmed up for the regular season. They're still installing offense
and defense, and most of all, they're learning communication from
(05:25):
sideline to the huddle, from huddle to players, and then
at the line of scrimmage with play calls and changes
and protection calls. All of that's brand new, and the
starters need to learn that a game speed, not just
in practice, which is why I think that they're going
to play more than a normal preseason, and Mike McDonald
has started to indicate that's the case. We'll talk more
about that later as well. Gino Smith may be he
(05:48):
may be the one starter that may not play because
he's only three practices back from that hip and knee
issues of last week that had him out for six days.
More on Mike McDonald than what he had to say yesterday.
NFL Network is going to be in our next segment
elsewhere in the NFL Super Bowl fifty two MVP Nick
Foles is retiring after leves seasons with the Eagles, the Rams,
(06:08):
the Chiefs, Jaguars, Bears, and Colts. The Chicago White Sox
and Baseball fired manager pedrugerfall after they ended their twenty
one game losing streak, which tied in nineteen eighty eight
Baltimore Orioles for the longest streak in American League history.
At the Olympics in Paris, the US women's basketball team
advanced to the semifinals with a win over Nigeria. The
(06:30):
American men's basketball team plays today against Serbia. I think
it's a twelve to thirty local time tip off in
their Olympic semifinal. Noel Lyles today is going to try
to win the two hundred meter final after he became
the first American twenty years to win the one hundred
at the Olympics a couple days ago. Back to what
I saw yesterday here at Seahawks training camp. This had
(06:53):
been brewing for days and they very very chippy chippy,
to say the least. That's kind of understating it to
call it chippyctices here. Once the pads have come on
in the last week and it boiled over yesterday. And
it started pretty early actually, and the impetus that started
the whole thing. They were doing a run heavy scrimmage
(07:13):
eleven on eleven in full pads, Trey Brown and Jake
Bobo on the right sideline, not even near the play
or getting their hands up underath each other's chin straps,
push and shoven and then Brown just ripped Bobo's well
after the play, ripped Bobo's helmet off, and then delivered
a solid uppercut. I mean, that was a punch, and
(07:35):
Bobo felt it obviously, and he fought back, and they
were scrapping and everybody jumped in. Bobo had to go
off on the back of the field with a trainer.
He missed about a series and a half while he
got his blood finally controlled. Was bleeding all over his jersey.
He had a cut across the bridge of his nose.
I tucked him briefly after the practice. He said that
(07:56):
was a pretty good blow. So that was one, And
I thought, okay, is this the line? Is this where
Mike McDonald's is enough. You ripped a helmet off, you
punched the guy and bled his nose and hit to
come out of practice. But no, Trey Brown went right
back in the next play. It did even come out,
didn't even go to the sideline, stayed in the scrimmage.
Then the next series, after Bobo had just jogged from
(08:19):
the trainer back into the sideline to get ready to
go back into the scrimmage, another running play near the
goal line, and DK Metcalf no doubt mad at the
fact that Brown had already gone after one of his
fellow wide receivers. He and Brown were going at it
again on a running play away from the ball, and
(08:40):
both hands under chin and Metcalf ripped Trey Brown's helmet off,
and then he took it and started swinging it. He
was trying to hit Brown. He ended up hitting safety
Kavan Wallace instead of Course, hitting a guy with a
helmet these days is not quite as damaging as it
used to be thanks to the guardian caps that they
all have on him. But still there wasn't exactly a
(09:01):
good will intentions there, and everyone jumped on everybody. Jake
Bobo ran off the sideline to jump into that fray,
cut nose and all, and then I thought to myself, Okay,
is this the line that Mike McDonald's gonna draw, and
it was he finally stopped practice, turned off the music,
called everybody into the middle of the field, including general
(09:22):
manager John Schneider, who was at the edge of the circle.
Everybody listening to the coach talk. Later on, players said
that he McDonald basically said, look, we have to be
smart about not hurting our own players. We can't do
this and let this effect us in a game. But
he didn't exactly can rip everybody and admonish them, other
(09:42):
than the fact they can't hurt each other. And he
must have said some of the effect of any more fighting,
and you're worth throwing you out of the practice because
the next fight, the next real fight. There were a
couple of skirmishes d s Gridge and Johnson the corner back,
and a couple things after plays of eleven on eleven.
But then when they broke the scrimmage and went into
individual group drills and back to the offensive defensive line
(10:03):
one on one pass rush drills, which is always the
most contentious of any camp day. Anyway, about four or
five reps in it was Derek Hall against the rookie
Christian Haynes, and Haynes rode him behind the quarterback and
well after the play kept pushing in, pushing in his chest.
Hall didn't appreciate that, and as they walked back to
the line of scrimmys to do a second rep, he
(10:24):
was yapping and pointing at Haynes. Haynes pointed and jabbed
his finger into Hall's chest plate, and then they were
on and it was a fight there and bofins of
the defensive lineman jumped in. Mike McDonald was about fifty
yards away watching the quarterbacks strot to wide receivers and
defensive backs in the other other field. He came from
(10:44):
the other field and kicked first haul and then immediately
after that Haynes off the field and sent him into
the facility. First time we've seen that in the entire camp.
First time at Mike McDonald's head coach in your career,
he's done that. And oh, by the way, Jody Allen
was here yesterday I practice for one of the only times,
(11:05):
and vice chair Burke Cold. They were walking right by
the Hall Haines fight when it started, and so there
was the line. We finally saw the line. It took
two helmets getting wrapped off, a player getting a nose bloodied,
and a helmet being chucked by one player into a
teammate before Mike McDonald drew his line, and that is
(11:28):
we're not going to hurt each other. But it's the
intensity again, Chris, that they're looking for. Mike McDonald's trying
to set that he's wanted this camp to be this
way throughout, and yesterday was a little bit over the top,
but it kind of personified that.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Absolutely, it's shaping up. It's shaping up for this team
to be a physical team, no nonsense. And I'm excited
for their first preseason game to see what his team
brings physicality wise, going up against someone that that's not
their teammate. That's kind of been the discussion throughout the
last few days. As they're tired of hidding each other.
(12:05):
Can they go out there and make plays against someone
else where they'd be the Chargers, the Titans, you name it,
the Brown through I think their last preseason game. So
with that being said, they're gonna get an opportunity this
weekend to channel that energy towards someone else that's not
their teammate. And I'm glad that Mike McDonald is drawing
a line. And as you mentioned, now you know the line,
so let's not get back to that as we continue
(12:27):
on with practices. So definitely excited to see what this
team is all about come their first preseason game, as
they inch forward, what they're a month away from opening
day against the Broncos, So they're getting closer and closer.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Well, again, the point is that line is really high.
I mean, it takes a lot guys punching guys and
they're not getting thrown out. In fact, Brown stayed in
the scrimmage. So that is the tone he's trying to set.
And the physicality and the intensity four the tone we're
do text line. When's game time, it's total a time.
Your thoughts about this? Are you all for it? I
(13:02):
mean there's some fans who are really excited to see
that this looks like the Seahawks of yesteryear of a
ten years ago, of Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas and
Mayhem practices and all of that. Are you is this
a good sign to you? Good sign? At four nine
four five? One good sign, bad sign or no sign?
Really no news, no sign. How do you feel about that?
(13:24):
Do you feel that this is indicative of a positive
change in this team? And it's psyche, it's demeanor and
it's tenor do you feel like it's a negative that
can't help, but you feel like this is really no
big deal at all, and this is training camp in
the middle of August and you're just tired of hitting
on each other, which is a little bit of what
Mike McDonald said yesterday. Coming up next, we're going to
talk more about what Mike McDonald said about yesterday's fighting.
(13:48):
He had a little bit to say to NFL Network
and it also again how the day represented who Mike
McDonald is as a leader. We'll talk about that next
and more. Eleven o'clock again, we'll have Mike Durrell on
the air, rookie offensive tackle for the Seahawks. All that
more coming up next on ninety three point three KJRFM.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
Now, our NonStop coverage Jump Seahawks training Camp continues from
the Virginia Mason Athletics Center, brought to you by Northwest
Handling Systems and the twenty twenty four Boeing Classic Gaugus
Fifth through the eleven. Now back to the Greg Bell
Show with Christopher Kidd on Sports Radio ninety three point
three kjr FM.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Hi, Welcome back, Greg Bella The News Tribune and Christopher
Kidd with you at the Virginia Mason Athletics Center right
off the practice field, which is a boxing ring. Yesterday
heer fight Day at Seahawks training camp. Today it's dog day.
They're dogs practicing there, catching their Frisbees. Going on right now.
Another day of fans, last day of fans at training camp.
(14:53):
Then tomorrow they go into a walk through mode before
they get on a plane to go to Los Angeles
for the Saturday preseason game four h five start time
on Saturday afternoon on Channel six callng TV locally. And
then next week they're in Tennessee. After Monday's practice Tuesday,
they practice here. Tuesday night they fly to Tennessee joint
practices with the Titans that are sure to be wild
(15:15):
next week in Nashville on Wednesday and Thursday. I'll be
broadcasting from Nashville from the field where the Titans and
the Seahawks will be practicing together on Wednesday and Thursday.
And then the second preseason game is on Saturday in
Nashville between the Seahawks and Titans. And then they don't
get back here again until the Monday after that, which
is the twentieth of August nineteenth of August, and then
(15:39):
five days later they play the Cleveland Browns in the
final of the three preseason games. That one's at home
at loom And Field Saturday, August to twenty fourth, and
then cut down day from ninety to fifty three players
on the first roster of the regular season is August
twenty seventh, so they are it just boom, boom boom.
Once the game start, the preseason kind of ticks away quickly,
(16:00):
which is why Mike McDonald said today basically is the
last true day of training camp between the fans and
the tempo of the practices and US against us and
all of that that will end today at the fourteenth
and final practice here at Seahawks Minichamp training camp. The
thirteenth practice was wild. We talked about the fights last
(16:20):
segment and how we saw Mike McDonald finding and explain
to his players what his limit is. They saw it
for the first time. The NFL Network crew was out
here broadcasting live from Seahawks training camp across the country.
They caught dk Metcalf throwing a helmet in the direction
(16:41):
of Trey Brown on the back of a live set
interview with three talking heads right in front of the fray.
This is what Mike McDonald had to say Yesterday's the
NFL Network about that and more.
Speaker 5 (16:53):
And we're here now for the Insiders, joined by the
head coach of the Sales Seahawks.
Speaker 6 (16:57):
Mike McDonald. Thanks Tom, good to see you. Brolan.
Speaker 5 (16:59):
So what are you excited about out here? You're a
couple of weeks in. You haven't gotten to the games yet.
I know you kind of.
Speaker 6 (17:03):
Temper your expectations, especially in the young guys. But what
do you like to your seeing.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Yeah, we've been getting after it. I'm proud of how
we responded today. We came out, we were ready to practice.
I don't know what the numbers are, but we've been
out here, I don't know, fourteen last sixteen days. I
think we're tired of going against one another, you know,
but the guys are bearded. We had we had a
great practice and we're you know, we're excited for Saturday.
Speaker 5 (17:23):
It was it was feisty out here. There were a
few we were we had our face forward the camera.
We kept going like what's going on now? DK played
a little lack of mole at one point, where's the
line for you in terms of you want the intensity,
you want the competition, you probably don't want people using
their helmet as well.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
We're right on the line right now, and I think
the guys realize that, you know, let's take care of
one another. Definitely want people fighting out here and stuff,
and especially against our own teammates. But and then DK
gave a great messageant of the practice, just kind of
putting us everything in perspective.
Speaker 6 (17:49):
The guys finished it out the right way. So proud
of our guys.
Speaker 5 (17:52):
What do you say in that moment you called the
team up after I think it was the second of
the little scrums that you had there.
Speaker 6 (17:56):
What's the message? It was positive and the guys are
in a good spot.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
But just remind him why we're out here, what we're
trying to get accomplished, and take a deep breath and
let's finish the practice the right way.
Speaker 6 (18:05):
And we did.
Speaker 5 (18:05):
You've been coaching a long time, relatively speaking, here, this
is your first time being in that head chair. There's
all kinds of things like this, right, controlling the messaging,
your team and the culture everything else.
Speaker 6 (18:15):
What are you learning about yourself in this process?
Speaker 3 (18:18):
It's all these examples of an opportunities to reinforce what
you said you wanted to be about. So those are
the things you're seeking. And I think the guys they
appreciate when you like point stuff out of Hey, we
said we're going.
Speaker 6 (18:30):
To be like this. Are we committed to that or not?
Speaker 3 (18:32):
And I think when they realized, hey, you know, these
are the things we said we wanted to be about.
This is an opportunity to actually, you know, put our
mouth money where our mouth is, so to speak.
Speaker 6 (18:39):
And I think they've responded to that.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
An opportunity to reinforce what you told him you were
going to be about. Put your money where your mouth is.
That's what Mike McDonald said to NFL Network yesterday, and
that's really what it is. He's trying to be consistent
in his messaging of needing toughness and wanting intensity, and
then he practices it on the field. And that's why
these practices have been so chippy. Not the least of itch.
(19:06):
Also is that the players are trying to impress twenty
two new coaches, a head coach, a new offensive coordinator,
new defensive coordinator, a special teams coordinator. They're trying to
make inroads with those coaches and gain reputations with them
of toughness. And McDonald has stated that from the first
team meeting back in the spring that that's what the
type of team he wanted. It's a type of team
(19:27):
he just coached in Baltimore when he had the number
one defense in the NFL, and that's why he's here.
So to him, this is a consistency matter. And while
some may say that it looks like absolute mayhem out
here and inmates running the asylum and all of that,
this is very calculated by Mike McDonald. He wants to
make sure he has the respect of his players that
(19:48):
when he says something in team meetings and all these
offseason plannings, that he actually practices that on the field.
And that is why these practices have been so so
he did and why McDonald has let a lot of
it go. It is interesting from a leadership perspective, and
it is certainly different than it was here for fourteen
years under Pete Carroll, who had a much more paternal
(20:12):
arm around you approach to how he did training camp
and how he wanted to run his team. Now, it's
not to say there weren't fights here in the last
few years, and I can remember the jermainea Fetti won
in particularly with Frank Clark that resulted in miss time.
But those are one offs, and they were an entire
practice full of bout after bout after bout after and
(20:34):
during plays like there were yesterday. So it is different here.
And for those of us who have covered this team
for more than a day and not, the difference is
pretty obvious. So what are they going to do this weekend? Wildly,
it's not just going to be reserves that are going
to hit on another team for a change. When the
Seahawks play the Chargers in the first preseason game. Mike
McDonald made clear yesterday on NFL Network and later on
(20:57):
in the segment of that interview that the starters are
going to play Saturday. There's what he.
Speaker 6 (21:00):
Said, how much running you're gonna give these guys your starters?
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Oh well, Gino, we're still figuring that out right now
for Saturday, based on how he feels and who else
is going to start, But we'd like to get the
starters out there and you know, get ready to go,
especially just being new schemes, you know, new systems, operation
and things like that. So I think we'll see a
lot of our guys on you know, the beginning part
of the game on Saturday, and then you know, we'll
evaluate it from there.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
So the traditional well we're not going to play the starters,
we're not going to risk him to injury. That doesn't
apply here because they're they're installing Ryan Grubs offense that's
not yet done. Grub this week saying is about seventy
five eighty percent installed. Mike McDonald's defense is not fully
installed yet and he has said he doesn't like the
communication how the communication has been at times in training camp.
(21:45):
He has in fact slowed down some of the installation
to get the communication better between the sideline and the
field and then from the huddle to the guys the
eleven that are lined up in formation right before the snap.
There's all kinds of communication nuances have to occur after
they break the huddle. On defense and the special teams,
they don't even know what kickoff looks like because they've
(22:06):
never done it before. It's a brand new kickoff and
kickoff return system that they don't have any idea how
that works because nobody has done it before. So yes,
there is value and need for these starters to play,
and so Chris on Saturday, there is more than a
reason than just watching Seahawk colors run across your TV
(22:26):
screen to tune into the game on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Oh yeah, big time, you're gonna have You're gonna see. Well,
I hope you know can play, because that would really
make everything complete. Your starting quarterback, a couple of receivers,
you're starting our offense, and you get to see just
a glimpse of what this offense could really be. I
don't know if that means they get to play a series.
I have no clue what it will look like. But
at least now we're getting an indication that there's gonna
(22:49):
be some guys who normally don't play. In previous years
when regards to preseason, they don't play much until the
last preseason game. This year is a little different just
because of everything that's going on schematically and everything is
brand news. So that makes sense because my question was
going in, Okay, who is gonna play? I know that
second third string, well, third string for sure, fourth thing
definitely second string guys most likely. But I'm guessing the starters,
(23:13):
what's their role going to be going into the preseason.
But it sounds as if Mike McDonald's willing to put
that out there that the guys are gonna play get
some time, so we'll get to learn a little bit
more outside of okay, just practicing and seeing things. I'm
really excited to see the defense. I don't know where
you stand, Greg, but maybe you might be more excited
to see the offense. But man, I'm excited to see
(23:33):
what this defense looks like, even if it is for
a series.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
The defense has to get better, and I want to
watch how they'd move around before the snap. How much
are they actually going to reveal of the Mike McDonald
Ravens system. I don't think much. It's gonna be pretty vanilla.
I don't expect them to be doing much of the
changing and disguising that the Ravens did last year. I
think that's coming, and I don't think they're even fully
(23:58):
installed on a defense to start doing that in games.
But just how are they How are they against the run?
For instance, Jonathan Hankins is a guy who's probably going
to start a lot at age thirty two, tenth NFL season,
normally wouldn't play in the first preseason game. The one
true nose tackle, veteran nose tackle they have. There are
guys like Tyler Lockett who may not play. I could
(24:21):
see Julian Love, the Pro Bowl safety, perhaps not playing
or playing just a little bit. Well, Lockett wouldn't need
to play necessarily, but and he rarely does in the
preseason anyway. But I could see Metcalf playing, and Jackson
Smith and Jigba, maybe Kenneth Walker a series or two.
But it's just it's different. The objectives of this training
(24:42):
camp of having to install all these new systems makes
it different on its face. And that's why I thought
since coming into this camp that these preseason games are
going to be different. We're going to talk to Mike
McDonald after practice today and we'll quiz him more about
who's going to play and how much. But indications are
as you heard right there, that yeah, starters are going
to play Saturday, which makes it a different preseason opener.
(25:05):
So tell your friends there's a reason to watch the
Seahawks preseason game at four or five on Saturday on
Kong TV locally. It'll be This is such a fascinating experiment, Chris.
Those of us have been out here for fourteen fifteen
years watching Pete Carroll do it one way. Heck, I
remember Jim Mora his one training camp. I was out
(25:27):
for training camps with Mike Holmgren all the way back
to winning with the Cheney at Eastern Washington University, and
those were all pretty much same system. With the exception
of the one off year of Moro which went four
and twelve and he was gone after one season. We've
not seen a total installation rebuild like we're seeing right
now in a generation. And from preseason playing time down
(25:51):
to allowing fights in practice to the pace of installation
and communications every day is an experiment out here. Try
to grow this whole program. These preseason games gonna matter
a little bit more. They are, and I would expect
the starters they may end up playing, all three of them.
We'll see, but they Mike McDonald indicating that they are
(26:12):
gonna play on Saturday four nine, four five one on
the Tulem. We'll do text sign. Yet another question we
have for you is what are you excited to see
on Saturday knowing that the starters are gonna play. Maybe
not Gino Smith because of the knee hip issue from
the past week, but most other starters Mike McDonald indicating
are gonna play Who are you excited to see most?
What are you excited to see most? In the preseason
(26:34):
opener on Saturday at four nine four five one on
the tunnelm we do text sign and it's game time.
It's totally time at eleven thirty to be time to
read back your text and answering those questions. Coming up next,
we'll talk more about what I saw yesterday in the
thirteenth practice beside Jess fighting and a lot of other
things that are going on around training camp. As the
(26:55):
trick dogs jump in front of me catching frisbees in
their mouths. Live from Seahawks training Camp at the Virginia
Mason Athletic Center on ninety three point three KJRFM. Hi,
(27:25):
welcome back, Craig Bella, the News Tribute Christopher Kid with you.
I'm from Seahawks training camp. Fourteenth practice day to day,
the last day with fans out at this afternoon at
one o'clock one to about three thirty or so, and
practice ends and fans will get their last chance at
autographs after practice ends. Well, wonder if fans get an
(27:45):
eye fool that they got yesterday. We're ooing and on
and hooping and hollering, and they were pretty excited to
see some of the fights that went on here. It
was like a hockey game breaking out, except the teammates
going against each other. They may be in full pads
again today. It would be the last one of the week.
I would assume Tomorrow, of course, he'll be the walkthrough board.
(28:06):
They may be in shells like they were on Tuesday.
That's set up yesterday to be the most physical practice
of the week, and it sure was. We played last
segment for you. Mike McDonald's saying that he wants the
starters to play, and the plan is for starters to
play Saturday at the Chargers in the first preseason game.
That's again that's a four h five kickoff on Saturday afternoon,
an unusual start time, and locally it's going to be
(28:29):
on Kong TV channel six sixteen, depending on your cable system,
and then King five is going to have the next
two weeks after the Olympics end, and then the next
two preseason game will be on King five. But Gino
Smith might be the one starter, the one veteran starter
who won't start and play on Saturday because of the
fact that he's just coming off that knee and hip
issue from the past week. He missed four practices and
(28:51):
yesterday was his third one back. He still looks sharp, Chris.
His throws are instride on target. He has thrown an
interception or to every other practice or so, but he
seems to be the installation of the offense doesn't seem
to be overwhelming him. He's not hesitating. He seems to
be on top of that piece of it. Ryan Grubbed,
(29:13):
the offensive coordinator, has talked about how competitive and how
he loves the competitiveness of Gino Smith even in practices,
how he's trying to win every rep, and how he
has handled the load that he's putting on Seahawk quarterbacks
to all that he wants him to do in his
new system. What's the offensive line going to look like?
(29:34):
That's really what determines whether grub and Gino Smith have
success this year. Yesterday the line was back to what
it has been for most of training camp. Charles Cross
has been the starter for years now, since his first
Mini camp of his rookie year. He's the left tackle.
Laken Tomlinson came back from his veteran rest day yesterday
was the left guard. It had been Christian Haynes at
(29:56):
left guard with the starters. When the day before, on Tuesday,
when Lake and Tomlinson at age thirty two got a
veteran rust day over with Timmy was the center yesterday?
Why not Connor Williams, Well, he hasn't reported yet to
the team. He maybe we expect him in it either
today or tomorrow. And when Connor Williams does sign officially
and join the team, it's no sure thing that he's
(30:17):
going to go straight into full pads practicing. He's eight
and a half months moved from tearing his ACL and
having reconstructive knee surgery with the Miami Dolphins, and while
the Seahawks think he can play and will be ready
to play physically for the season, it's only going to
what it's April eighth or August eighth right now. And
the need, first of all is for him to get
(30:39):
acclimated to football shape. He hasn't been in pad since
December early December when he hurt his knee, so he
needs to get into football shape first, and then he's
got to get into the install There's a steep and
quick learning curve for Connor Williams in the four weeks
between where he signs in the first real game September eighth,
a week a month from today. Denver at right guard
(31:02):
yesterday was Anthony Bradford, as it has been for most
of training camp, and then at right tackle was McLendon curtis,
who this spring was the starting right guard when Anthony
Bradford had any ankle issue. Mccurtis signed last year off
Waivers was a guard and now he is playing tackle.
So there's a guy, another guy that can be valuable
(31:22):
to make this team who can play multiple positions. Ray
Kwan O'Neill is a tackle who's been now playing guard
this training camp, another example of a player who can
be a swing guy at multiple positions. The right tackle
yesterday still wasn't Abe lucas we don't know when he's
going to finally come back from his knee surgery he
had in the off season. And it wasn't George Fan
who took what appeared to be a veteran rest day
(31:44):
as he was in flat shoes and jim clothes watching practice,
So that meant it was McLendon curtis at right tackle.
So right now it's been McLennon, Curtis and George pant
As the two right tackles awaiting Abe Lucas's return whenever
that may be. Lucas remains on the Physically Unable to
Perform list. He can come off that at any time,
but there are still no signs of win that might be.
(32:06):
Mike McDonald has said that is slower. The recovery for
Lucas from the surgery is slower than the team anticipated.
We asked Ryan Greb a couple of days ago, the
offensive coording about his offensive line. He says, we're getting there,
and he liked the competition that they're bringing in at center.
The fact that they're signing Connor Williams, the fact that
Nick Harris has had his first first team reps of
camp this week for OL with Timmy tell you that
(32:30):
they are not settled or satisfied with OLI with Timmy
at center, and they're making changes there that they could
end up being Connor Williams, the six year veteran by
the opening game September eighth, if he can get up
to football acclamation and health speed by then. So Chris,
that's the big thing. The offensive line and the offensive
line we see Saturday against the Chargers probably not gonna
(32:51):
be the offensive line we see September eighth against Denver.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
Likely not. But this is the cards they're deal they're
dealing with it, and the competition is on at center.
So I would assume every single player is gonna get
a opportunity to showcase they can run the offense with
Gino protect him, be efficient in the run game. So
that's important. And who knows is gonna start It sounds
(33:13):
like Charles Cross is locked in and uh, Tomlinson's guard. Okay,
so as you mentioned, there's you know, I think he
said sixty of the old line is figured out.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
I have center, right guard, right tackle, I'm sure right now,
although Bradford has the inside tracker right guard.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
So those are gonna be some We're gonna see some
camp quote unquote. The camp battles are going to be there.
And that's another facet of the game that I am
a little intrigued about. But again it's more so the
defense because I want to see how much disguising McDonald
shows in his first preseason game. Does he do it
at all? You just go out there and it's vanilla.
I doesn't want to show anything.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
Happen, but whether you like it or not, they don't
want the rest of the league see. Well that's fair
for the rest of that.
Speaker 6 (33:57):
We understand that.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
We get there's a little chess match to everything teams
do offensively and defensively, so that won't be too much
of a Debbie downer, but I understand it. So yeah,
it should be a fun game. And I know we
get a few texts in about what they're excited to see,
so yeah, keep sending them in four, nine, four or
five one. Were you excited most to see in the
Seahawks first preseason game? Offense, defense, position battles, you name it,
(34:20):
whatever you got texted in. So yeah, it should be
a good first preseason game, regardless of the win loss,
but excited to see what these guys can do with
this news game and new coaching staff.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
We'll read back your text at eleven thirty and the
to them we'll do text sign whents game time. It's
Tolly time coming up next. Why did Seahawks rookie OFFENSI
attackle Mike Durell stay at Division two Finley in Ohio
for six years, including a COVID year despite nil offers
from the Big Ten, the Big twelve, and other power programs.
He explains that with what I thought was a really
(34:51):
cool perspective on all that next from Seahawks training Camp
in the Virginia Mason Athletics Center, live on ninety three
point three KJRFM,
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