What Seahawks QB Sam Darnold said about lively joint practice with Packers

Darnold carved up Green Bay's defense in red zone drills during Thursday's joint practice.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) shares a laugh with a fan as he rides a bicycle to a joint practice with the Green Bay Packers on Thursday, August 21, 2025, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. | Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Joint practices are quickly passing preseason games as the preferred method for NFL teams to get ready for the regular season. They may one day completely replace them, in fact. Either way, this is the best method for seeing where your team stands compared to live competition with just weeks to go before the real games begin.

For the Seattle Seahawks, they held a lively joint practice on Thursday morning against the Green Bay Packers. According to all accounts, they acquitted themselves well. While Seattle's red zone defense was holding Jordan Love and the Packers to just 2/12 on the other side of the field, Sam Darnold and Jaxon Smith-Njigba were carving Green Bay's defense up in their own red zone drills.

Here's what Darnold told the media about JSN's big day and the practice in general after it was over.

Sam Darnold comments on joint practice

Sam Darnold on practice today. pic.twitter.com/BKaaNhwilc

— Bob Condotta (@bcondotta) August 21, 2025

While the preseason has made it clear that this is going to be a run-first and run-second kind of offense under Klint Kubiak, the connection between the starting quarterback and his No. 1 wide receiver is still arguably the most-critical element in the modern game. That Darnold has found a rhythm with JSN after just a few months is a good sign of things to come for the passing attack.

We have already seen all we will of those two on the field this month, though. Head coach Mike Macdonald told reporters after practice that rookie quarterback Jalen Milroe will start and play the entire game against Green Bay tomorrow afternoon. We can assume that JSN and the rest of Seattle's high-end receivers will be resting.

More Seahawks on SI stories

Leonard Williams calls out injured Packers for jawing at Seahawks

5 biggest takeaways from a chippy Seahawks-Packers joint practice

Seahawks defense with ‘all the ingredients’ ranked No. 1 in NFL

Seahawks insider suggests Zach Charbonnet may seize RB1 role