After a camp and preseason in which Jalen Milroe was almost exclusively playing with what would be constituted as the third-string offense, the Seattle Seahawks rookie quarterback will be a part of the first-team offense in some capacity during the regular season.
Speaking with media after Monday’s practice, head coach Mike Macdonald was straightforward with Seattle’s plan for Milroe in the regular season.
“We’re going to have plays for Jalen and game plans, and he’s going to rep those of the ones,”
Macdonald said. “However we build the package for him going into games, he needs those reps in walk-through and full speed.
“How we do it, who gets how many [practice] reps — obviously Sam [Darnold], it starts with how many reps he needs to get ready, and we’ll work off from there.”
Macdonald also indicated that Milroe will also get some work as a scout-team quarterback.
Milroe started and played the entire preseason finale against the Green Bay Packers, going 13/24 for 148 yards a passing touchdown, 31 yards rushing, but also three lost fumbles and five sacks behind that aforementioned third-string offensive line. He played the second halves of the Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders games, going a combined 9/15 for 107 yards.
We did see Milroe take one snap with the starters in preseason, converting a quarterback sneak/Seattle Shove/Space Needle Surge/Pike Place Push on 3rd and 1 against the Chiefs. It’s expected that Milroe’s significant threat as a runner will be a boost for the Seahawks in short-yardage and/or red zone situations. We’ll surely see some passing plays installed too, just so it’s not an obvious giveaway that when Milroe is in the game it’s an automatic run.
If you wanted Milroe to get some reps with the ones? You’ve got your wish. We should anticipate the debut of the Milroe portion of Klint Kubiak’s playbook on opening day against the San Francisco 49ers.
