Seahawks' Mike Macdonald scoffs at notion Sam Darnold won't start - ESPN

SEATTLE — If there was any lingering notion that a healthy Sam Darnold could be beat out for the Seattle Seahawks' starting quarterback job, coach Mike Macdonald put it to rest in decisive fashion Tuesday.

During an interview with Seattle Sports 710-AM, Macdonald was asked whether anything other than an injury between now and the start of the season could lead the Seahawks to go with another quarterback.

«No, you guys are crazy,» Macdonald said. «I respect that you've got to ask it, but it's just a crazy question. It's just not going to happen. Sam's our starting quarterback. We love him. He's doing a tremendous job.»

The question came a day after Darnold delivered an up-and-down performance in the Seahawks' fourth day of OTAs, the first of which that was open to reporters. Darnold's lowlights while leading the No. 1 offense included two interceptions in a span of three plays during a 7-on-7 period in the red zone, as well as several plays that fizzled with the quarterback holding onto the ball.

Darnold bounced back well from those interceptions, and though Macdonald didn't deny that Darnold made some mistakes, he also noted that the quarterback got the better of the defense near the goal line during an earlier period.

Macdonald emphasized that it's still early in the offseason program, and that some mistakes are expected to happen.

«God forbid you're the worst payer of all time because you made one bad throw or one bad decision,» he said. «That is not what we're trying to build. We want these guys to go prepare the right way and then when they go out on the practice field, go freaking let it rip and then we'll go fix it.… We've got time. It's June 3… They're going to get plenty of reps. We'll get those things fixed.»

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