Mike Macdonald's updates from Day 1 of Seahawks OTAs
· Yahoo Sports
Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald spoke to the media after Day 1 of OTAs on Tuesday afternoon and shared the team’s latest mantra for 2026, updates on absent and injured players, and how the team is staying focused on moving forward under the spotlight as defending Super Bowl Champions.
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The Seahawks aired the press conference at 2:30 p.m. PDT on X.
Broadcast
OTAs stand for Organized Team Activities, which are the first required offseason workouts. The Seahawks’ schedule for this year has six days of scheduled OTAs over the next two weeks. They kicked off today and will continue on Thursday and Friday of this week, then will run on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday of next week ahead of Mandatory Minicamp on June 9th-11th.
The Seahawks newest motto for 2026? “Run it forward.” When asked about being intentional with the language beyond the typical adage of “running it back” Macdonald said, “We’re using the term ‘we want to run it forward’.” It’s a clever way to turn the pressure of expectations into a focused mantra, but it also exemplifies the importance of the style of football that made them successful last year. Despite stars like Jaxon Smith-Njigba emerging in the passing game, Seattle’s focus on dictating games on the ground will continue into 2026.
“We’re not looking for bells and whistles, we’re looking to be a great football team.”
Macdonald also provided updates on injured and absent players for the first time since the draft. He said tight end AJ Barner’s “had the things in the offseason, but he’s attacking it like AJ Barner does and as you would expect, he’s itching to get out there, but we’ll probably see him come training camp time.” When asked about tight end Elijah Arroyo having a great practice, he said he’d had a great offseason, had a great opportunity to take his game to another level and was attacking it. Barner broke out in his second year and Arroyo could be poised to do the same in 2026.
He was asked about running backs Zach Charbonnet and Kenny McIntosh, to which he responded “Zach’s doing a great job” but that “these things are one their own timetables that’s hard to pin down right now, but we’ll probably be having a better idea as we circle back in July.”
On rookie wide receiver Emmanuel Henderson Jr, he simply said “He’s got a personal thing going on.” He mentioned Tory Horton Jr.’s “made a lot of great strides, and it seems like we’ve got some feedback on his recovery that can really accelerate his recovery.” This might have been the best news of the day, as Horton was on his way to breaking out as one of Seattle’s best receiving threats alongside JSN before suffering a season-ending injury in November. A healthy return would likely slot him right back in as the second passing option in the Seahawks offense.
On defensive end Demarcus Lawrence, he said “He’s on his plan, he’s working through some things, but he’s in great spirits, and he’ll be here at some point.”
The Seahawks continue OTAs on Thursday and will hold another press conference that afternoon. Stay tuned to Seahawks Wire as we continue to break down the stories of the offseason, with just 106 days until they kick off the regular season by raising the banner at Lumen Field.
This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald gives updates from Day 1 of Seahawks OTAs