RENTON — The day after the Seahawks’ latest win brought two certifiable truths about their rookie coach.
Mike Macdonald doesn’t mess around with ineptitude.
Mike Macdonald is going to be busier and more tired than he’s ever been in his 37 years this week.
The NFL’s youngest head coach wasted no time Monday correcting the biggest of many blunders the Seahawks overcame the day before to beat the New York Jets. He waived Laviska Shenault following the primary kickoff return man fumbling two returns in the first half Sunday.
The Seahawks fumbled on kickoff returns three times in the game; the other was by rookie Dee Williams, Seattle second of two deep men back on kickoffs. Those gaffes gifted New York two of their three touchdowns and put the Seahawks in a 21-7 hole by the second quarter.
Seattle rallied for the final 19 points in its third consecutive victory. The Seahawks (7-5) remain first in the NFC West entering their rematch with the second-place Arizona Cardinals (6-6) in the desert on Sunday (1:05 p.m., channel 7).
Seattle’s latest don’t-perform-you’re-gone move came on the day Shenault, signed as a free agent before this season, was one of only two Seahawks in the top 10 at their position in the league’s early Pro Bowl voting by fans.
Apparently most of that ballot count happened before Sunday’s game.
Assistant head coach Leslie Frazier said Monday “we’re working through” who is going to replace Shenault, and perhaps Williams, returning kickoffs at Arizona.
“We’ll have a better idea over the next probably 24-48 hours,” Frazier said.
Why was Frazier speaking in Macdonald’s place during the weekly day-after press conference?
Macdonald was with his wife Stephanie. She apparently had gone into labor earlier Monday. Mom and Dad are expecting their first baby at any time.
Film study is about to become a whole ‘nother challenge for the first-time head coach leading into the Cardinals game.
“Really excited for Mike and Stephanie for what they’re experiencing,” the 65-year-old Frazier, the former Minnesota Vikings head coach, said. “My wife (Gale) and I, we have three kids. So I remember those days. So I’m really excited for him.
“But for me, I mean, Mike has put together a great foundation. It’s just a matter of getting out of the way and let the coaches do what they do and let the players do what they do, and we’ve got a good infrastructure set and it should bode well for us as we go forward.”
Mike Macdonald’s return?
Asked if he had an idea when Macdonald would return to the team or if there’s a chance Frazier might lead the Seahawks into Arizona this weekend, Macdonald’s mentor from their days on the same Baltimore Ravens staff in 2016 sounded like the experienced father he is.
“I don’t know how many of you are parents on the call, but when you get that call, and you’re told that you’re getting close, close can mean a lot of things,” Frazier said. “It’s such an unknown right now. So we’ll kind of play it by year and just see what happens day-to-day. But it could be as soon as (Monday night). We could get a word (Monday night) that the baby is here. It could be tomorrow. Could even be two or three days from now. But we’ll be on guard.
“We’re just praying that everything goes well, and we look forward to hearing the good news. And we’ll adjust when we need to.”
Seahawks’ special-teams issues
Before he left for new-dad duty, Macdonald voiced his displeasure for Shenault’s and Williams’ kickoff fumbles that nearly cost the Seahawks Sunday’s game and first place.
The coach called his special teams against the Jets a “comedy.”
A dark one.
“We have to protect the ball better (in) the kicking game, for sure,” Macdonald said. “So, we’ll definitely review that.”
The Seahawks also allowed Kene Nwangwu, a Jets practice-squad player, to return one of Jason Myers’ kickoffs’ 99 yards through three whiffed tackle attempts for New York’s second touchdown of the first half. That was just before Shenault lost the ball on a kickoff return to hand the Jets a third touchdown.
New York’s Xavier Gipson returned the next Myers kickoff 45 yards to midfield.
“Yeah, it seemed like it’s just kind of a comedy of things on each one. I’m talking about our kickoff, right?” Macdonald said, having to clarify which of the many special-teams mishaps he was referring to. “Yeah, a couple missed tackles here, and then we had a miscommunication on another one.
“We got to take a look at that and make sure we’re on the same page and we’re going in the right direction.”
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