Seahawks' Mike Macdonald still has plans for Jalen Milroe despite bad fumble

The Seattle Seahawks still want to get Jalen Milroe involved in the offense despite a bad result in Week 5.

Sep 25, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Jalen Milroe (6) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Though Seattle Seahawks rookie quarterback Jalen Milroe was never going to start over veteran Sam Darnold, the allure getting him involved in the offense was always going to be tempting.

Sure enough, offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak has dialed up a few plays early this season to get Milroe involved, to less-than-stellar results.

In Sunday's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Milroe took the field in the middle of the second quarter for just his third snap of the season. It was a speed option play to the left side, but the pitch was just behind Kenneth Walker III and ended up on the ground. Tampa Bay recovered the fumble and scored on the ensuing drive to go up 13-0, and would go on to win 38-35 in an instant classic.

Obviously the players need to execute. But I just don’t see the vision with the random Jalen Milroe plays. They said on draft night that Milroe isn’t the new Tayson Hill, but that’s basically how he’s randomly being used pic.twitter.com/QrR2kTGRD6

— Dugar, Michael-Shawn (@MikeDugar) October 5, 2025

It was a bad play and a key turning point in a shootout, but despite that, the Seahawks still plan to dial up plays for him occasionally.

"We have more plays for Jalen," head coach Mike Macdonald told reporters Monday. "I think it's a combination of we really like the plays that we have for him and we're doing a lot of great things on offense when Sam's the only quarterback in the game too, so trying to balance that as well.

"I think part of the reason we're having success right now on offense is that we're throwing our fastballs and we're running our offense. We're running all of our plays and Jalen's package is a part of that and teams have to prepare for it. I think that helps us and we're executing it really well in practice and they look good in practice and you start getting conservative and not calling stuff because you're scared. It's like we don't want to live like that."

Added Macdonald: "The play didn't go our way. Could have made a better pitch, could have had a better pitch relationship. We want to take care of the football, that's number one, but we want to stay aggressive too."

Aug 23, 2025; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Jalen Milroe (6) throws a pass against the Green Bay Packers during the second half at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Kayla Wolf-Imagn Images / Kayla Wolf-Imagn Images

Milroe can definitely bring a new dimension to the offense with his speed, which is pretty much unmatched for a quarterback. However, the main knock against him coming out of college was that he was very raw, and that apparently goes beyond just being a passer.

Hopefully, the reps that Milroe gets moving forward will do him and the Seahawks more good than harm.

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