Darnold returned to the starting lineup against Washington, and while he did throw two interceptions, Macdonald liked what he saw from No. 14.
All eyes were on Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold in the 33-31 loss to the Washington Commanders at Northwest Stadium on Sunday in Week 3.
In what was essentially Darnold's first game of the season, having only five plays under his belt from Week 1 thanks to a glute injury, it was always going to be interesting to see how he would fare on the road in Washington.
Well, he wasn't great, but he wasn't bad either.
Sam finished his day 31-of-45 for 379 yards, 4 TDs, and two interceptions, with one 5-yard rush.
With the Seahawks trailing late, Darnold managed to score a touchdown, but the defense never gave the offense the football back as Marcus Mariota and Co. wound down the clock to record a superb win.
But what did head coach Mike Macdonald think of No. 14's return?
"Sam played great," Macdonald said. "There's a tip pick where we felt like where he was going with the ball was maybe could have been a little bit more decisive in that moment. Then there's a couple plays that he wants back, but we move forward, we're going to learn from it, and we move forward."
In truth, it was always going to be a little scratchy from Darnold.
Let's not forget, since the Super Bowl, and prior to Sunday, he had played just five snaps of "proper" football, so he is hardly in top form.
But he'll be better for the work, so too the Seahawks' offense, because while they did struggle at times, they did score touchdowns on two of their three fourth-quarter possessions, and the one time they didn't, Darnold was picked off.
So, there is a lot to clean up, but also a lot to like because of all the things that the Seahawks didn't do well, they still only lost by two points.
Macdonald says the team will learn from it and move forward, and if they can clean up some of the things from Sunday, I think Seattle will be just fine in 2026.
