Geno Smith Among Starters Expected to Play For Seattle Seahawks in Preseason Finale

Though it remains to be seen how long starters will play, Geno Smith will make his 2024 debut as the Seahawks wrap up the preseason on Saturday night.

Oct 29, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith (7) against the Cleveland Browns at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports / Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

RENTON, Wash. - In their final tuneup opportunity before kicking off the regular season on September 8, the Seattle Seahawks will play most of their starters in Saturday's preseason finale against the Cleveland Browns, including their starting quarterback.

Speaking with reporters following Thursday's walkthrough-oriented practice, Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald confirmed Geno Smith would see his first action of the preseason along with most of the team's other projected starters. As for how long they will play, that remains more fluid and will be determined during the game.

"The plan is that you'll see a lot of starters to start the game. How many reps and all that, it's kind of on a per person type basis, but the plan is to see a good amount of the guys. We've got a couple nicks and bruises here, so we've got to hold some guys out. There's some guys you might not see that you might not expect, but for the most part, most of the starters will start the game."

Under current NFL rules, with the previous fourth preseason game axed under the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement, teams have an extra week between the end of the exhibition season and Week 1. But according to Macdonald, while that may be a motivating factor for some teams to play starters in the exhibition finale, that's not one of the primary reasons why the Seahawks want to get their starters some action against the Browns on Saturday night.

Instead, Macdonald sees value in getting his players lathered up for the regular season with the pads on, particularly on offense where Smith and several other notable starters haven't played at all to this point in the preseason. With a new coordinator in Ryan Grubb at the controls, having the chance to see the group run his offense in actual game action with Smith under center before the real bullets start flying outweighs keeping everyone sidelined for precautionary health reasons.

In addition, Cleveland is expected to play the majority of its starters, presenting a rare opportunity for a regular season feel for Seattle on the opening couple of series at minimum.

"On offense, we just haven't had a chance to get everybody out there and operate, especially at our home field, go through all those things," Macdonald explained. "There's something to putting the pads on and actually going out and moving the ball before we do it for real. Defensively, we only got six snaps in the first game, so an opportunity to go out there and put some more good film on tape and have some confidence going into the first game."

As Macdonald noted, the Seahawks won't have all of their starters in uniform due to injuries. Tight ends Noah Fant and Pharaoh Brown remain sidelined, though the coach indicated he was optimistic both players would be ready for Week 1, while center Connor Williams likely won't play despite getting some work with the first-team this week as he returns from a torn ACL.

On defense, Dre'Mont Jones continues to nurse a hamstring injury and won't be available on Saturday for Seattle. Safety Rayshawn Jenkins, who left Wednesday's practice with a lower body injury, remains out indefinitely, while Macdonald said cornerback Tre Brown probably won't be back until next week as well.