Seahawks Coach Mike Macdonald Talks Bye Week Benefits

Mike Macdonald and the Seattle Seahawks are fresh off of their bye and hope the time off pays off getting back into the win column.

Oct 27, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald stands on the sideline during the fourth quarter against the Buffalo Bills at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

The Seattle Seahawks are fresh off their bye as they look towards starting the second half of their season.

Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said that the bye week served its purpose for the coaching staff and the team.

"Coming in Monday and it stings from the past game, but then saying, 'Hey, this is where we're at, this is what we're going to do over the course of the week.' Players kind of getting away by refreshing their minds and their bodies," Macdonald said. "I thought it was good for them. Their spirit today was great, just like I said, had a really energetic practice. So put a great game plan together tomorrow and onward we go for the second half of the season.

"But then coaches-wise, I think it alleviates some pressure in order to put game plans together and take a big-picture approach about where we're at and what we're doing and how we do it, I think that is really the biggest thing that we attacked of how we're putting things together, how we're detailing it out. It gives us clarity on where we're moving forward with it. I think that's probably the biggest takeaway is kind of improved clarity and for vision of where we're going in all three phases."

Coming into the bye, the Seahawks had lost five of their last six games, so the bye week can serve as a nice reset and allow the team to start anew with the second half of the year.

Coach Macdonald also believes that the bye week can give the team a chance to establish new goals and build better habits.

"Instead of just putting a band-aid on it, you want to attack it, and you want to make it a strength," Macdonald said. "How we're packaging things on offense and defense, how we're trying to ID, and how other teams are attacking us and counterattacking. I mean all those things are always on the table, but when you're putting game plans together, absolutely, you're not trying to really defend anything. You're trying to attack stuff that you see on tape and personnel-wise. I think that'd be a fair way to reframe our mentality of what we're trying to do."

The Seahawks need to play better in the second half than they did in the first, and the bye may not have come at a better time for them. But now, it's back to work as the Seahawks need to execute these new plans and put them into fruition.

The Seahawks are back in action this week as they travel to Santa Clara to face off against the NFC West rival San Francisco 49ers. Kickoff is set for 1:05 p.m. PT from Levi's Stadium.

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