Ready for ‘Next Chapter,’ Rylie Mills Poised to Capture Bigger Role on Seahawks’ Defensive Line
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Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Rylie Mills (98) reacts after sacking New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) during the second quarter in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images [/caption]
RENTON, Wash. - In their 50 seasons as a franchise, the Seattle Seahawks have appeared in four Super Bowls, with unexpected stars from Kelly Herndon to Malcolm Smith to Chris Matthews shining in every single one of those games regardless of the final outcome.
Helping the Seahawks claim their second Lombardi Trophy in franchise history in February, Super Bowl LX proved to be no exception. Playing in just his sixth NFL game, Rylie Mills emphatically etched his name in the history books, picking the perfect time to record his first career NFL sack by bringing down Patriots quarterback Drake Maye - as well as bullied guard Jared Wilson - in the backfield after unleashing a menacing bull rush that steered his blocker into the pocket faster than the blink of an eye.
Teammates mobbed the rookie defensive end out of Notre Dame as he rose from ground howling in delight, with linebacker Ernest Jones accidently managing to knock him over during the post-play celebration. The electric sack put a positive finish on a challenging first season for Mills, who overcame a lengthy recovery from a torn ACL that cost him most of his first season in the Pacific Northwest to make an unexpected impact on the biggest stage in sports.
“Looking back at it, it kind of just felt like the end of a long chapter in my career,” Mills told reporters after Seattle’s final open OTA practice on Thursday, admitting he has watched the sack plenty of times since the big game. “I felt like from the the start of the injury and the rehab process, you go through so many different phases, and the ultimate goal is get back and get back to who I was before the injury. And so I think just that moment, I think a couple days after I was like, ‘man, that really was like a storybook kind of ending on it,’ but I feel like I closed that chapter and I'm ready to get going and for this next chapter to start.”
Suited up with a helmet and jersey for OTAs after not being able to do much beyond being an intent observer last spring, Mills’ second NFL offseason couldn’t be much different from the first.
Starting the year on the PUP list as he continued to work his way back from reconstructive knee surgery in January, Mills didn’t participate in offseason workouts, training camp, or the preseason for the Seahawks, which at times casted doubts on whether or not he would play at all as a rookie. Along with getting after it rehabbing with trainers away from the field, he emulated a sponge watching and learning from the likes of veterans Leonard Williams and Jarran Reed, trying to stay ahead of the curve with the mental part of the game as he navigated an arduous rehabilitation process.
But even as he remained sidelined through August and into the start of the regular season, both Mills and the team remained optimistic he would be able to play at some point in the 2025 season, gradually ramping up his activity with the guidance of the team’s medical staff as the season progressed.
By the time the calendar flipped to December, Mills’ patience and hard work had paid off. Checking off all of the boxes necessary in the final phase of his rehab and drawing positive updates from coach Mike Macdonald as the light at the end of the tunnel started to become clear, Seattle designated him to return to practice for the first time since suffering his injury in the College Football Playoff, with him impressing enough in his first two weeks back to be activated to the 53-man roster in the heat of a playoff race.
Having not played in any preseason games, Mills had plenty of rust to knock off and lessons to be learned through trial by fire. Seeing his first game action against the Colts in Week 15, as the player recalled on Thursday, the opposition wasted little time testing the rookie on his first career snap, sending a tight end flying across the formation post-snap to throw a wham block on the unsuspecting defender. Running back Jonathan Taylor rocketed behind the lead block, which caught the juiced up rook off guard as he shot upfield, finding a big crease to pick up 12 yards on the carry.
“The first play like I was ready to fire off the ball, and they ran wham, and I was like, ‘oh, my God.’ So keep your head on a swivel,” Mills laughed. “I got to learn a ton. Definitely, it's different when you go from starting a week 15 practice to a live game, but I feel like I learn best kind of getting thrown in the fire, and it ended up working out great.”
Immediately after that snap, Mills checked out of the lineup, receiving some instant coaching critiques on the sideline. He didn’t record a single statistic on seven snaps in a debut that felt like a blur, but the game quickly started to slow down over the next few weeks as he started to stack reps and gain experience, including producing his first three career tackles in wins over the Rams and Panthers.
By the time the postseason arrived, Mills didn’t get to suit up against the 49ers in the Divisional Round, held out as a healthy scratch in favor of veteran nose tackle Brandon Pili. While he dressed the following week against the Rams, he only played a single defensive snap with no statistics, and it didn’t seem likely he would factor into the rotation much in Super Bowl LX either.
But different matchups call for different personnel usage, and after practicing well leading up to the big game in Santa Clara, Mills earned a little bigger slice of the game plan pie for Macdonald and defensive coordinator Aden Durde as they geared up preparation for New England. Going against a smaller offensive line, including Wilson, a rookie out of Georgia, the Seahawks felt his pure power and physicality could present an advantageous matchup for them to capitalize on with a handful of plays.
That intuition proved to be wise, as Mills dominated on his five defensive snaps against New England and left an undeniable mark on the contest despite a rather small workload. Along with his highlight-worthy sack that featured tackles of both Maye and Wilson that thwarted a first half possession, he generated a second pressure with an ambushing bull rush on the young quarterback that generated a rushed incompletion, ending the contest with a 50% pressure rate that put a cherry on top of the comeback sundae.
“I think going through the process, I think a lot of people would have broke,” Mills said. “I think it would have been a tough thing to deal with, having an ACL injury like mine was. And I think a lot of people would have quit or not seen the light at the end of the tunnel. And so I think one thing I learned is that no matter the obstacle or the challenge, it's just one day at a time. The opportunity may not come tomorrow or the next day, but eventually, when it comes, you're either gonna be ready for it or you're not.”
All the way back from his injury and not having to concern himself with rehab, Mills isn’t simply taking mental notes this time around as the Seahawks prepare for their title defense during spring workouts. He could be seen whacking padded dummies, knocking back sleds, and cutting around a hula hoop among other drill work on the practice field this week, a far cry from when he was forced to watch behind teammates as a frustrated bystander last spring.
Of course, Mills’ physical brand of football has to be curbed to an extent this time of year with contact being prohibited and real football still a couple months away, something Macdonald made sure to remind him of when the coach booted him out of an 11-on-11 team drill for a few plays for failing to stay upright and bringing a blocker to the ground on a previous play. Boasting a game predicated on power, as he demonstrated to a national audience in the Super Bowl, he will have to wait until the dog days of summer to re-enact his efforts bull rushing in padded practices and preseason games.
But Mills sees a clear silver lining to the physical limitations this time of year, even if he has a difficulty at times resisting the temptation to fire his hands into a teammate and drive them off the ball. No longer worrying about getting back to his pre-injury form, his goal has shifted to rounding out his game and developing into the best overall player he can be, hoping to see increased emphasis on hand techniques and continued focus on counter moves as a pass rusher during OTAs pay dividends once September rolls around and help earn him a larger workshare in Seattle’s talented defensive line rotation.
“It's been good. It's adjustable. I like to use my power, so I feel like here, you can't use your power. You got to use other things. So it's actually forced me to grow in other areas, but there's definitely times where I'll get mad and just try to go to power, and AD’s [Aden Durde] got to be like, ‘hey, chill out.’ Just work your hands. So it's been a bit of an adjustment.”
