HEAD COACH MIKE MACDONALD

Postgame Press Conference
Wednesday, September 9, 2026

MIKE MACDONALD: Wow. What a game. Pretty cool. First win for the Khosla Family, so gave them a game ball. It was really cool to have them there after the game. We're excited for them. I mean, what an electric atmosphere just the emotions when the banner… is it banner dropping? Revealed?

Q. Unveiling?

MIKE MACDONALD: Unveiled, there you go. But just a really special night to be a Seahawk. Just really, really incredibly proud of our team. Thankful for the 12s. Just the amount of resilience. Think about all the things going on. I think the fourth play we lost Sam. First-time playcaller (Brian) Fleury did a great of adjusting on the fly; our offensive staff. Drew Lock deserves a gigantic shoutout for playing clean football. We'll improve our operation. It's really everybody on board, but we can get so much better very quickly. With Sam we got great news back. Let's just say it's good news right now. So I know still thoughts and prayers with Sam. We love him. The guys really pulled through for him. Then defensively I thought the guys really fought. The first games are tricky in terms of who has answers for what and all that. Thought we played incredibly hard, stuck together. Our staff did a great job finding answers as the game went on. Nehemiah Pritchett played a dynamite game. Then just really happy for Josh (Jobe) just playing all the way to the very last play. Really remarkable. So proud to get the win. Also understand it's the first game and we have a really great opportunity here to take our game to the next level. We talk about the '26 Seahawks and understanding our identity and who we are, that definitely revealed the type of team we have. We have a resilient tough, bunch that sticks together. I am really proud of the effort. Just really proud to be a Seahawk today.

Q. With Sam, have you been able to rule out a fracture?

MIKE MACDONALD: At this point, we were able to rule out a fracture. So there is some more testing to be done and so that's what I'm saying when it's positive, so still working through all that. Right now I think fracture is out, which is great news.

Q. The fact you have 10 days until the next game does that give you hope he can play, or too early to tell?

MIKE MACDONALD: I really don't know. I don't know. I don't know what the extent is. I don't know.

Q. Sounds like yours and the team's concern was a fracture and that's been alleviated.

MIKE MACDONALD: As of now. Yeah, I'm not there so just going with what they tell me.

Q. You always turn to your veteran leaders in games like that. Julian Love, the hit he had on Hunter Henry at the beginning of the second half, seemed like that really got everybody going, and then just the overall game that he had, just words...

MIKE MACDONALD: Yeah, Julian played a dynamite game. Rodney Thomas (II) deserves a shoutout coming in playing really sound football. There is a lot of reps that Ty (Okada) and Julian had have to build that chemistry about how we want to operate and getting on the same page. So Julian really took a big time role for our team. One, making the plays, but also making sure we're in the right stuff and on the same page. So shoutout to Julian as well.

Q. What did that hit do on the side I think first play the second half?

MIKE MACDONALD: I want give our team a lot of credit because things weren't really going our way going into the half and we didn't panic. We still liked our plan. We didn't need to change what we were doing or anything like that. Just wanted to stick to what we were doing. I think the guys were really excited to go back out there and play which was really a tribute to our leadership, coaches, our communication as a staff. So I was pleased with that process.

Q. What does it say about Josh Jobe, has the DPI and then comes back and makes the play at the end of the game?

MIKE MACDONALD: We had some penalties that we had to overcome today. But, it's a play-by-play mindset. You know, our guys, we're tired at the end. They're playing really hard. To find the energy to go get one more play, and I mean, you know, they're really good at extending plays. For him to play kind of through the echo of the whistle the second half of that play is just tremendous. It's game of inches, but that's a hell of a play.

Q. You were saying like the first time playcaller, you got your backup quarterback in. You got the fourth when you got the touchdown on the pass.

MIKE MACDONALD: Yeah.

Q. It was a pass play. How does that all come together? Obviously there is a lot of the things there that wasn't necessarily planned.

MIKE MACDONALD: That was part of our critical call plan, and so we knew that particular down and distance was going to be a go. So Brian (Fleury) was ready, and we had everybody out there.

Q. Had Drew Lock practiced that play?

MIKE MACDONALD: Probably not. Probably not. He wasn't on the tape when I saw it. (Smiling.) Yeah.

Q. Mike, how important is it for your defense when your D-line is hunting and going after the quarterback and the affect it has on his decision making?

MIKE MACDONALD: On their quarterback's?

Q. Yeah, when your D-line...

MIKE MACDONALD: I thought our guys played really hard. Our rush, it was a different type of game than it was X amount of months ago, so you got to be able to adjust. Again, our player leadership and our coaches of finding solutions, how to adjust the rush plan in real time based off the things we're seeing and how we want to adjust our coverages in real time is some high powered stuff. That's our staff. Those are our players doing those things because they're coming up with those solutions while we're on offense and managing the game on offense. So I thought our staff did a tremendous job.

Q. You guys always expressed confidence in Drew Lock. His opportunities are rare once the season starts. How happy are you guys for him when he gets the chance and does what he does?

MIKE MACDONALD: Incredible. I should've gave him the game ball. He'll get one tomorrow. He'll get something tomorrow. Maybe a belt. But, we love him. We love Drew. Guys love him. He's just a Seahawk through and through, man. We are all incredibly -- okay, it's like Drew is in the game. You heart goes out to Sam. We're praying it's minor obviously. Had such a great offseason. But Drew has, too. He's played really well. Any time somebody is getting an tune unfortunately it's because something else isn't able to go. You also want to feel excited for that player. So we had a lot of confidence in Drew coming in playing at high level.

Q. On Jaxon Smith-Njigba's performance.

MIKE MACDONALD: Incredible.

Q. 45 yards the way he did, how special does a guy have to be to do something like that?

MIKE MACDONALD: When you catch it, normally the way I saw it there were some angles where you would expect the player to get tackled but he's able to accelerate in those subtle accelerations and cuts that he's able to make. It was just it's the type of stuff that not a lot of people can do, but Jaxon can, so that was a tremendous play.

Q. On Jadarian Price, and the running back rotation.

MIKE MACDONALD: We got to talk about how we're using all our backs, but it seemed like that was the plan. We were stick to the plan going into the game. Didn't get much after rhythm offensively. Played a really good game on defense. Did a good job. Hit a couple runs early but we'll look and see where we need to improve. J.D. will get a lot of carries. He's going to be one of our top guys for sure.

Q. Mike, you mentioned you were happy with the way Brian Fleury made adjustments. What did you like most about -- seemed like he was getting him more easy completions in the second half.

MIKE MACDONALD: Yeah, that's Brian. That's our staff. That's how we communicate. When I say the whole team, in this circumstance, really our whole offensive operation stayed poised. When things are going awry, the way we roll, we try it find solutions, find a play and go find another one and just keep rolling. Now, I wasn't part of those conversations, you know. I was coming in kind of late after we played on defense. Seemed like it was poised and streamlined communication so I was pleased with that.

Q. How close or not close was Nick Emmanwori to playing?

MIKE MACDONALD: We'll see. We'll see how this week shakes out.

Q. You're consistent.

MIKE MACDONALD: Thank you.

QUARTERBACK DREW LOCK

Postgame Press Conference
Wednesday, September 9, 2026

Q. On having dramatic primetime games

DREW LOCK: I don't know if my lifespan loves them as much as I love them in the moment, but, yeah, it was a blast, again. So proud of everybody on the offensive side of the ball. Cannot say enough about the defense forcing the turnovers. It was such an awesome night.

Q. The life of a backup quarterback, you don't get reps in game week. We see you out there at the end of practice. How else do you stay ready for moments like tonight?

DREW LOCK: Yeah, my biggest thing is always just drawing every play as much as I can.

Q. Literally drawing?

DREW LOCK: Literally drawing. Light board. I've got one next to my bed. I'll do it at night and I'll do it in the morning. That's just been my thing, being able to visualize it so when I read it out it's just there in my head. Because of the lack of reps you don't get to physically do it. I got to be able to draw it from somewhere, no pun intended, and drawing it helps me draw it from somewhere.

Q. Mike said the fourth down play, he didn't don't think you'd ever run that in practice, the touchdown.

DREW LOCK: Probably not. It is like a classic football play. But, no. No, definitely never ran it. Looked kind of funny before the snap. Didn't really seem like they had anybody ready to match Jaxon based on what I knew we were about it run. He's the third read in that play, and when 11 is just standing there, you got to give him the pill.

Q. You're the number two quarterback. It's fourth down and short, they put the ball in your hands.

DREW LOCK: Sweet. It was sweet. When you hear like the digit come in, I would like to think I have all 100 memorized but, no. I'm like, all right, what number is that? Flow 7? Here we go. It was cool. It was awesome. It was kind of one of those like, pardon my French, tap on the ass, go get this done, buddy. It was cool.

Q. And then your reaction to what Jaxon did with it afterwards, the catch and run. What stands out when you see that?

DREW LOCK: Fantastic. Do the work for me, bud. Go get that thing done. Yeah, just another Jaxon moment that doesn't surprise any of us, but turns into a cool highlight reel.

Q. Coach Fleury, obviously probably not the way he was intending the first game to go.

DREW LOCK: Right?

Q. How did you see the communication with him go as the game progressed? Seemed like he was getting you some easy opportunities at halftime to kind of get you into a rhythm and get the offense moving.

DREW LOCK: No, it was great to get here at half, put the plays up on the board, talk about our openers coming out of the half, really get those dialed in. I think it's also a little bit of just feeling the flow of the game, getting back into this, finding ways to in the future be able to snap into it quicker. That's just the life of a backup. He did a fantastic job all night. We need to be a little better on some procedural things. Obviously that's apparent. You can't go second and inches to whatever we ended up on that drive. Could have came back to bite us. We got to get better with that moving forward.

Q. Sam talked about how stoic were his words to describe Brian Fleury.

DREW LOCK: Who said this?

Q. Sam has said that. Was that the case tonight, even when...

DREW LOCK: Same thing.

Q. Really?

DREW LOCK: Same thing. It was awesome to see that. I think as a quarterback with someone in the headset you want them like this all the time. (Indicating level.) Whether it's he's really energetic, but always be energetic. Or stoic, always be stoic. It was awesome to feel that from him tonight and see that from him and know what's what we're going to get moving forward.

Q. In what ways have you grown as a quarterback since the last time you got an extended run in a game like this a couple years back?

DREW LOCK: I would say it's an interesting question because I've definitely grown. I've learned a lot about football. But having an opportunity on a team like this can shift your mindset. Knowing the type of defense that we have, there is no rush to push the ball down the field. Let's find ways to get the ball in our guys' hands. Now, when the ones down field are there, I've never been one to be afraid of those, but having the mindset of taking football, getting it our guys' hands. You got the best defense in the world, in my opinion, let's keep the ball moving forward and see what the scoreboard looks like at the end of this.

Q. You mentioned that defense. I imagine as the game is going down you have to be thinking about overtime.

DREW LOCK: Yeah.

Q. Did you see the interception?

DREW LOCK: No. We were talking about format, two minute, all right, stop talking to me about two minute. I'm going to go watch this last play. And me and Jalen (Sundell) are sitting there, and sure enough, the ball went up in the air and (Josh) Jobe made a heck of a play. Then you click into, oh, my gosh we got to go knee it now. Let's go take a knee and get on in here and celebrate a little bit.

Q. Could you describe all that goes through your head when you see Sam go down the way he did?

DREW LOCK: I've always been the guy to stand behind the offense, watch him, the pass rush, and then go back and like look at the tape on the sideline with the pictures. The hit, there was bodies in the way. I didn't necessarily see it. Take a couple steps away, I look back and see him kind of hobbling to the sideline. That's happened before. Nothing too big. But when he kept doing it all the way to the white. I was like, all right, this might be something. I feel like I know Sam really well. He was going to do everything he can to stay out there. But it was just one of those things where he had to go get it looked at.

Q. Drew, long season. Just one game. What's the value of getting a win like this when it looked so bleak for two and a half quarters? What does it mean long-term?

DREW LOCK: Any win, any win in this league is huge, especially the first one of the year against a team that was obviously very good the year before. Instead of starting here, you start here. That's really the only difference. We're going to go attack this coming week with the same diligence we attacked this week with and see where we are after Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, and take it one week at a time.

Q. Drew, your whiteboard at home, can you think of the most random moment when you've been -- felt the urge to go to it, middle of the might, early in the morning, friends over?

DREW LOCK: I'll say that every day I get home to do that I have to erase things that were not drawn by me. That's probably the most random thing about that whiteboard. I think it's a good time killer for my wife at home at some point with the kiddo. Yeah, so it's fun. I get to smile right as I start to do it and kind of remember why you're doing it.

Q. Have they ever cooked up a good play, your wife and kid?

DREW LOCK: No. The whole thing ends up black and it's just scribbled everywhere.

Q. How long did it take your wife to get used to having a whiteboard and you're drawing on plays on it in bed?

DREW LOCK: Yeah, it's quiet. It's quiet in bed. After two kids you kind of realize there is a lot of quiet times in bed when you just lay there like, what are we doing?  She understands. She gets it, so tell her I love her, give her a little kiss and go to sleep.

ADDITIONAL SEAHAWKS PLAYERS

LB DEMARCUS LAWRENCE

(On the defensive mentality tonight) "We take a lot of pride in who we are as a defense. If one man goes down, it's our job to pick that guy up and let them know we're with them and we got his back. That's how you show your teammates support, by going out and helping them win the game."

(On getting the interception to start the second half) "It's beautiful to see one of the young guys step up and command his role like Nehemiah [Pritchett] did tonight…He's definitely going to be a star in this league."

(On the play from the safeties tonight) "They're a smart unit back there. They stay together. They communicate a lot. For one of our leaders in Julian Love to step up the way he did today, made a lot of plays for us. That's Love."

(On the resilience of the team tonight and what tone it sets for the year) "Sky's the limit. I feel like there's so much more football out there for us to learn and take away from this game. But the first game is in the bank. We were able to win and move on to the next one."

G GREY ZABEL

(On what it's like blocking for Jadarian Price and his running style) "I think he's a powerful runner. Gets downhill and runs behind his pads, which is all you can ask for as an offensive lineman out of a running back."

(On if they had a good chance to win after tying the game with the defensive playing the way it was) "Ever since I've been in Seattle, the defense just continues to have big plays for us and plays their ass off. They do what needs to be done to get the win. It's one of those deals where we just have to take care of the football and be able to run the ball to control the clock, and they'll do the rest."

NT JARRAN REED

(On if this is what he expected from the defense) "Absolutely. You have to play all four quarters. Shout out to all 11 guys that are on the field."

(On guys finding their rhythm) "It's the first game. It's a long game. Everybody isn't going to be perfect. That's why you play all four quarters. Keep playing, one play at a time."

(On the support for Drew Lock) "For us, it's a next man up mentality. We never waver with anything that happens. We have full faith in Drew. That's Mr. Clutch right there. Drew throws dots."

(On how the defense feeds off the success of the offense when they got going in the fourth quarter) "It's good to see them get going and moving the ball and making plays. That's what we want to see, as well as they want to see us make stops. They told us that every time we make transitions and make plays and who's going in on offense and defense, they said just keep playing. We got you. We're going to pick it up. I mean, we work hard for this. That's what we preach on, next play mentality. We don't worry about what happened the play before, we just keep playing."

LB UCHENNA NWOSU

(On the defense forcing three interceptions) "It felt great. That's what they do. If you watch our practice, you'll see those guys are constantly going after the ball. We talk about it all the time that we need three. We need three, and we were able to get it today."

(On what changed in the fourth quarter) "When that score went 10 to 10, the antennas went up. That's when the guys were like, 'It's time to go. We've got a chance to win. It's all on us, and we were able to do it.'"

(On the defense shutting down Drake Maye) "That's just credit to the guys in our locker room. Credit to the coaching staff because you've got to put together a great game plan. The hours and hour they spend away from their families to make sure we're successful as players, and we go out and execute. It's '12 As One.' They The 12s support us, and they're loud out there. It seems like it's a connecting thing."

WR JAXON SMITH-NJIGBA

(opening) "Big game. All glory to God. It's great to be here with the new season, new team. Energy was great, shoutout to the 12s. What an incredible game. I think a testament to our team, just having each other's backs, offense, special teams, defense, never wavering. Understanding that it's a four-quarter game, and that's why I love this team so much, and I'm super proud of them.

(On handling the loss of Sam Darnold) "It's tough losing 14. I mean, he's the head of the snake. But we have each other's backs, like I said. We fully trust in Drew Lock to come in and do his thing. He's done it time and time again. We just have to have each other's back, like I'm saying. I'm just super proud of everybody."

(On his fourth down touchdown) "I was happy it was a pass play. They thought it was a run, I believe they sent a blitz. My job was to find the zone and Drew did a great job of finding me. After that, it was just do what I do, just try to get upfield, protect the ball. Great upfield blocking by our tight ends, that's something that we preach heavily each week, we call it "E". It showed up tonight."

(On Drew Luck in the huddle) "Very confident. Drew's a ball player. He comes in and demands the huddle, and he wants to sling, throw the ball around. Like I said, full confidence in 2."

(On the defense making the play to win the ball game) "That's something I was praying to see on the sideline and it came to fruition. Man, they had our backs right there. We can always count on our defense, best defense in the league. Just hard-nosed and super happy for Jobe. I was happy to see him go attack the ball and keep his feet in and look like a receiver right there."

(On working through the procedure penalties and other offensive miscues) "Yeah, that's on us. That's on the players; that's on the offense. I'll take accountability for that. We have to better. No if ands or buts, no excuses. But, first game. We'll grow from this. Well watch the film and learn how where we can get better, and that's how the great teams become great."

(On how much belief he has in the team coming from behind) "Huge belief. Going into a game, I know our defense is going to give us the ball and give us opportunities and that's the best feeling for me and the offense, is just having that belief that the defense has our back, special teams are going to go out there and do their job, it's not all on me. We have Cooper Kupp making big plays, we have Rasheed making big plays, the young rookie was toting the rock tonight. It's a team effort. That's what gives me the confidence and the spirit to just go out there and do what I do."

(On going against Josh Jobe and Nehemiah Pritchett in practice) "Oh man, going against the defense all in camp, it was hell, especially going against Josh Jobe and his press technique and his awareness of the game and the position that he plays. On the other side you've got Spoon, Nehemiah Pritchett had a helluva game today, coming up with a big time pick leading to a score. Going against them just makes our offense and me a ton better. So, I'm happy those guys are Seahawks, for sure."

(On the impact on the sideline of Julian Love's big hit to start the second half) "Oh, electric, electric. We want to feed the crowd big plays, and we want the crowd on our side. We have the best fans in the world, so we have to use them and whenever you get a chance to pump up the crowd and make a big play and let the other team know, it's a benefit for us."

(On the decision to throw on the fourth down touchdown) "Like I said, I love throwing the ball on fourth and short and third and short. There's a lot of space out there and I think Drew did an incredible job of just finding me and making the right play."

(On the message at halftime) "The message at halftime was we knew coming in this was going to be a four quarter game, and that's who we are. We're going to fight. We knew it was going to be a dogfight, and we love it. Whatever it looks like in the first half, second quarter, we're going to make it right, we're going to keep fighting until the clock hit triple zeros. I was just happy to see that and to see that continue going forward this year."

(On what it says about this team to come back from 10 points down) "Like I said, we don't waver. We don't run from adversity. That's just not the guys that we are. That's not who this team is. We love it, we make it right. We just fight play after play after play. This was a dogfight, and we know that. We're a group of guys that keep our heads down and look up when it's triple zeros on the clock. It's been good for us."

(On what people should know about Drew Lock) "He's a playmaker. He loves to be out there and ball out. You can just see it on him, and his effectiveness on the team. You can feel it. It's exciting to see him ball out and throw it around and demand the huddle."

(On the play of Jadarian Price) "He ran tough, man. Super proud of him, I thought it was a great first game. That first run had a lot of juice in it. He's just going to keep building. I'm excited to see how far he grows throughout the season."

(On watching the rest of the weekend after getting this win)  "These days off are always better with a win. Sit back, relax, get to watch Sunday football, the game on tomorrow. I'm an NFL fan, so I love to watch ball and see where other teams are at. So we'll take advantage of these days off and get better."

"Thank you guys."

CB JOSH JOBE

(On the last play) "It was game on the line. Like we talk about, we live in the death zone, and we came alive and we took the ball away. That's what we talked about throughout the week, take the ball away and keep our eye on the ball."

(On keeping both feet inbounds) "Oh yeah. I had to make sure I had my feet in. That was the little detail I had to do. It was a blessing."

(On having guys like Rodney Thomas II and Nehemiah Pritchett step up) "It showed a lot. Throughout training camp those guys were working hard. It's been consistent in practice, and in their preparation. Shout out to those guys, I'm happy for those guys."

(On the presence of Julian Love) "Julian Love, he's all around, man. He's a playmaker, smart guy. Great communication. He's just a ballplayer, man. We appreciate him a lot."

(On whether he was surprised coach Macdonald picked him up on the sidelines) "Yeah, I was surprised. Coach Mike, I love that guy, man. I was surprised. I was surprised by that."

(On whether he kept the ball after his interception) "Yeah, that's for my daughter. I had to get a pick for her. It's for her."

(On how old is his daughter) "She's five months."

(On his daughter's name) "Ami."

(On bouncing back after the pass interference call to make the big play at the end) "It's the life of a DB, you know. Always gotta play the next play. I just talked to myself to play the next play. It's a long game. Life of a DB, man, like I said."

"Appreciate you guys."

RB JADARIAN PRICE

(On what a win like this means) "It's a good thing to experience for myself, but also for this team early on to know that you have to find a better way. You have to find a way to win when things get tough."

(On what went through his head when Josh Jobe got the game-sealing interception) "Shoutout to Velus Jones (Jr.). We were on the bench and Velus was like, 'Hey, I'm calling it right now, someone is going to get a pick to end the game.' If he hears it, I want him to know I shouted him out. We were talking about it, and I was so glad it happened."

(On what it was like playing in Lumen Field) "Early on I was like, 'Oh this is just another (stadium).' Then, time went on and those third downs got longer, I'm like, 'Okay, I see what people are talking about.' You see the 110-plus decibels up there, it's real. The fan base here is amazing, and I can't wait for more games to come."

(On averaging seven yards per carry in the first half) "Kind of the way the game was flowing but I'm glad the running game was going and I'm sure the offensive coordinator (Brian Fleury) was as well. It makes us feel more comfortable as an offense    ."

WR COOPER KUPP

(On Drew Lock's performance tonight and his adjustments in the second half) "He did a phenomenal job. He basically took no reps with any of the guys that were out there all week. You can see the onus that he puts on himself to be ready, though, when the time comes. There's extra time he spends on the field, extra time that he spends with the coaches to make sure. The last thing you want is for Sam to have to not be there, but Drew has done an unbelievable job preparing and did a great job for us today."

(On Brian Fleury's first game calling plays and having the starting QB go out on the first drive) "He did an unbelievable job. Not how he probably thought the first game calling was going to go. But I think he did a great job. You lose Sam, but I also think offensively, just as players, we shot ourselves in the foot way too much. A lot of stuff that we got to clean up. But he did a great job just being consistent there. Had a great demeanor. I even saw him smile a little bit on the sidelines so that's a big deal."

(On the belief in the locker room that has been built over the past year and how it helps when your starting quarterback goes out) "There's something to be said in the NFL about the expectation that you have for yourself. I think you can get into games through whatever your experience has been in football and you get into that last four minutes and you either have this expectation that you're going to find a way to win or you have the expectation that something is going to go wrong and you're going to find a way to lose. And we've got a lot of guys on this team, I would say just about everyone on this team, if not everyone, has the expectation that we're going to find a way to win the game. And that goes a long way. There's power behind that. It's honestly why in this league you've seen teams that just seem like they find a way to lose over and over again. There's other teams that do just find ways to win games. That last drive, the defense was doing a great job trying and finding a way to come up with a turnover. Everything started looking like, hopefully, having an opportunity in overtime to be able to win it, but [Josh] Jobe goes out there and does a great job to win it for us there. It speaks a lot to the work that went into it, but I think it's also because the work that's gone into it, there's an expectation about what these outcomes are going to be."

S JULIAN LOVE

(On how the team rallied in the second half) "It was the perfect type of game that you'd want for Week 1. Lot of adversity. Wasn't very clean. But we stuck together. We were so confident and cool and collected at halftime. It's like, let's go be us. Clean it up a little bit and make plays when we need to make plays, and it'll go our way. And it did, thankfully."

(On the team having the belief that players will make the plays needed) "That's probably the number one thing that we have is we're just going to find a way. It might be scoring a bunch of points, it might be shutting out a team, special teams making plays, whatever. We'll find a way. I think that's a sign of a great team is just to be able to do it multiple ways. This had a little bit of everything, and it's obviously great to win it."

(On how Rodney Thomas II played and how he helped him prepare for the game) "For me, as a leader in general and as a teammate and as a friend, I want to be stern for him and be somebody he can look to and lean on for certain things. First time playing in front of the 12s, it's loud, it's tough to make checks on defense. But all spring and all of camp, he's been making plays. He's tough as heck. Obviously him stepping up today, no one flinched. We just said, alright, let's ride. He's a good ballplayer and I thought he was going to get it. When he went up for that pick, he's just so athletic, he's a freak athlete so he goes up and makes that play for us. He had a great game."

CB NEHEMIAH PRITCHETT

(On how the defense felt in the second half) "It felt great. Just having the front that we got. We all trust and believe in each other to do our job, so just having that mentality to come out strong, and finish the game, and put them away.

(On how he saw Julian Love's leadership tonight) "Ju (Julian Love) is a key piece. Just preparing throughout the week, watching extra film, and just having him in the meeting rooms, going over schemes and things like that. I would say he is definitely one of the smartest in the room, so it's definitely a blessing to have him back there with us."

(On what it says about the team the way they came back from adversity tonight) "Just the 'next man up' mentality. Like I said, Mike (Macdonald) preaches about the ready squad all the time, and having guys come up and make plays, and just having them prepared throughout the week. It helped a lot."

LB DERICK HALL

(On putting his earlier penalty in the game behind him) "Well a call like that is ultimately out of my control. As a player I've got to be better in that situation. Just trying to decipher is he running out of bounds, or is he trying to stay on the sidelines? I'll take that one on the chin, and then just later in the game, just stay composed. My teammates and my coach kept me in the fight, kept me grounded, and in the next play mentality. We ultimately got it the way we wanted in the end."

(On how they keep getting in Drake Maye's head) "It's Mike (Macdonald); a football genius. The way he shows and manipulates fronts, the way he manipulates the secondary, thinking we are doing one thing, and showing them something completely different. The way we go and fight and play together, no matter the circumstances, we're going to go out there on defense and put our best foot forward to get the offense the ball. It speaks volumes to him, and us as a unit."

(On if he attributes the penalties to the magnitude of the game) "No. We're never making an excuse about that. Those are things that we have to control and be better at, but ultimately like I said, we found a way to win the game."

LB ERNEST JONES IV

(On how important it is for the defense to set the tone) "It's everything. When you think about Seattle, we want you to think about our defense, and what we are going to bring each and every day."

(On how backups are ready to go when their numbers are called) "I mean we got a head coach, and we practice like hell. Those guys are going to get their reps. We just got to speak life into them, trust them, and we know when they are going to come in the game, they will be at their best, and we trust guys like Drew (Lock), we trust guys in the secondary that are coming up. It's a trust thing, and it's something we've built through care."

(On how he speaks life into his teammates) "You tell them they are the best in the world, you make sure they feel it, and they believe it. You just keep speaking life, keep speaking words of encouragement. We know these guys, we spend a lot of time with each other, and we know what this is about to be."