Winners and Losers from Packers 20, Seahawks 7

Oh well, they can’t all be as entertaining as the last two preseason games, right?

The Seattle Seahawks had by far their sloppiest, most disjointed performance of preseason against the Green Bay Packers, turning the ball over four times and going 2/13 on third downs in a 20-7 loss at Lambeau Field. I think we could’ve tolerated the typical preseason dysfunction if there also weren’t injury scares scattered throughout the game.

Let’s get to Winners and Losers!

Winners

Patrick O’Connell

O’Connell led the team with seven total tackles, playing the run and pass very effectively and surely establishing his spot on the roster. Expect him to be a key part of Seattle’s special teams coverage units, as well. I thought he was Seattle’s best defensive performer and some of his top reps came against Green Bay’s starting offense.

Ty Okada

Wow! What a diving interception on the opening series of the game. Another good preseason for Okada, whom I believe has a chance to make the regular season roster. Even if he doesn’t, he’d most likely clear waivers and head to the practice squad and potentially get some PS elevations. Okada’s inclusion probably comes down to whether or not the Seahawks favor him over D’Anthony Bell and/or whether they want to keep four or five safeties (Julian Love, Coby Bryant, Nick Emmanwori, Bell, and/or Okada).

Cody White

The odds of White making the team are minimal but he’s always making splash plays in preseason. He had the huge punt return on Seattle’s lone touchdown drive and was the central figure on offense, hauling in Jalen Milroe’s first touchdown pass. I’d look for him to return to the practice squad should he be waived as expected.

Jared Ivey

Ivey did everything this preseason but get a sack. He even wrongly had a sack credited to him that eventually went to JR Singleton, then had a would-be sack late in the game slip out of his grasp and go to Alphonzo Tuputala. Of all the UDFAs on this roster, I think only Ivey and Connor O’Toole have any shot of cracking the 53-man roster. Maybe Jacardia Wright has a shot on offense but I think he’ll just be a practice squad stash. And now that I’m writing this, Ivey has been credited with a 0.5 sack alongside Tuputala.

Connor O’Toole

He’s had a solid preseason generating pressures off the edge and he was being held damn near all game without much referee help. O’Toole was someone I thought was one of the more intriguing UDFA signings for Seattle and it’ll be interesting to see what lies ahead for the former Utah player.

JR Singleton

Haven’t said a lot about Seattle’s third-string defensive line reserves, but this was a very good game by Singleton, who recorded a sack, two tackles for loss, and a forced fumble. He may be one to look at for a practice squad spot on Wednesday.

Losers

Offensive Linereserves

I can quickly understand why the Seahawks are reportedly interested in Dalton Risner. It’s not just the apparent Christian Haynes pec injury and potential lack of belief in him as a starter, it’s the performances of Sataoa Laumea (throughout preseason) and Bryce Cabeldue (throughout the Packers game at the very least) that make the guard depth shaky. I don’t see any path to the roster for Laumea and I think Cabeldue is on thin ice. They were getting destroyed by Green Bay’s starters (expected) and backups (bad).

Michael Jerrell also shouldn’t be assumed to have a roster spot locked up because he had some nice reps last year on a horrific o-line. He gave up the strip-sack in the opening quarter and had a false start penalty.

I wouldn’t rule out the Seahawks looking for veteran additions (or young players on the waiver wire) on the OL.

Jalen Milroe

I’m sure I’ll get some pushback here and I understand the disappointment that he didn’t get to play with any starters or key contributors, but Milroe was more bad than good. He lost three fumbles including one on a sneak, which you rarely see, and was lucky not to be picked after bailing a clean pocket and making a dangerous throw on the run.

Milroe still had some highlights; his throws to Cody White were excellent and he looks confident using the middle of the field and making progressions in certain concepts. The overall game was a bit of a struggle, and the more shotgun-heavy approach with Milroe falls in line with what’s happened in training camp and other preseason games. Milroe ran a lot of shotgun at Alabama, but also you wonder how comfortable the coaching staff is as far as opening up the playbook for him.

While it would’ve been cool to see Milroe get at least a series with more 1s and 2s in the game instead of the predominant 3s, if he’s not getting those reps in camp/practice I don’t think the coaching staff is going to have him get those first reps in an actual game. It’s probably something they’re targeting for 2026 and that’s perfectly fine.

Unless your expectations were extremely high, this should change nothing about the reality of Milroe: he’s a raw talent whose best shot at being a starter by merit and not injury is 2026, if not 2027.

Shaquill Griffin

Griffin has been absent for a good chunk of preseason for personal reasons, so this was just his second game back after missing so much of training camp. He looked a step slow in coverage and was beaten pretty easily by Romeo Doubs on the slant touchdown pass. I’m hoping there’s still a ramp-up process for him and he’ll be a reserve extra corner on the roster, but I’m still not feeling great about depth at this position.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling

Not for performance reasons; he had 3 catches for 33 yards, but the fact he even played the first half. Tory Horton sat out due (presumably) to his ankle injury but I suspect they’re just resting him for precautionary reasons before the regular season begins. Dareke Young and Jake Bobo got some playing time but they were supposed to be on the lower rung of the depth chart below MVS. To go from no snaps in Week 1 to some first-team snaps in Week 2 to extended playing time with the second- and third-stringers in Week 3 seems ominous.

Barring any long-term severity of Jake Bobo’s concussion and factoring in the likelihood Seattle only keeps five receivers, I believe it’s more likely than not that MVS is not on this roster. There are going to be veteran receivers on the market anyway, so it’s not like the Seahawks can’t dip into the FA pool if something happens to their depth.

Damien Martinez

George Holani not playing tells me his roster spot is secure. Martinez? Less so. He had 24 yards on seven carries but I’m a little bit annoyed that he couldn’t convert that 3rd and 13 draw when he had space to make a tackler miss. At best, he’s RB4 on this team but will get very little playing time relative to Holani, but I think Martinez’s lack of open field agility and explosiveness (combined with limited special teams experience) puts him firmly on the roster bubble.

Whoever was in charge of making Jake Bobo the primary returner

Unless Bobo’s roster status is far shakier than expected, this shouldn’t have been a thing beyond his first return. If he’s as valuable as Mike Macdonald indicated, then nothing was stopping them from just letting Damarion Williams and Cody White return punts all afternoon. If Anthony Tyus is returning kickoffs then no one of any semblance of 53-man roster importance should’ve been fielding punts.

And, incidentally, Damarion Williams muffed a punt but was able to re-gather it. I’m keeping a very, very close eye on Jay Harbaugh’s special teams group, because he’s the only one whom I believe has any sort of hot seat on the coaching staff.

Final Notes

• We don’t know how bad Jake Bobo’s concussion is, but Mike Macdonald says he’s in “good spirits.” It could’ve been much worse based on how he was laid out in his collision with Tyler Hall, whose knee apparently isn’t that dinged up. All the best to Bobo knowing how dangerous head injuries can be.
  
• Jamie Sheriff may have been working with the off-ball linebackers all offseason but he’s still more of an edge rusher to me. He recorded a sack and drew a holding penalty and had a productive game.
  
• If Shaquill Griffin doesn’t make the roster, I think Damarion Williams may have a sneaky chance to survive roster cuts. I loved his work sniffing out two screen plays and he has special teams value (dropped punt fully acknowledged again).
  
• Jacardia Wright has been so fun to watch throughout preseason. He had the biggest play for either team through a 61-yard rush on an inside zone carry. I hereby declare him the new Troymaine Pope.
  
• If we’re talking about players not playing as a positive indicator of their roster status, it seems like Brandon Pili is a lock. I saw Quinton Bohanna in the game but don’t recall Pili at all.
  
• Stick around for our roster cuts coverage over the next few days. Tough decisions are coming soon and we may be on the lookout for outside waiver claims and/or trades by the Seahawks. I’m ready for the real games to begin and to finally win a home game in front of fans against the San Francisco 49ers for the first time since 2018.