Seahawks’ Rylie Mills Looking to ‘Catapult’ Off Super Bowl Heroics With Clean Bill of Health
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Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Rylie Mills looks on during a five-man sled drill during training camp at the VMAC. Credit: Corbin Smith/Emerald City Spectrum [/caption]
RENTON, Wash. - Drafted just four months after tearing his ACL during the College Football Playoff, Rylie Mills knew the start of his NFL career with the Seattle Seahawks would be the ultimate test of patience.
In the midst of a lengthy rehabilitation from reconstructive knee surgery, as the offseason program gave way to training camp, Mills could do little more than watch from the sidelines and hold up blocking dummies. Still far from returning to action, he stayed on the Physically Unable to Perform list into the start of the season, remaining inactive through November as speculation began to mount on whether or not the Seahawks would opt to shut him down with eyes on 2026 rather than bring him back late in his rookie season.
But all along, Seattle had a plan in place to ensure that if Mills checked off all the boxes in his recovery, he would receive the opportunity to earn his way onto the field, even if it didn’t happen until the final month of the season.
By the time the calendar flipped into December, Mills’ hard work and patience finally was rewarded with the Seahawks designating him to return to practice, opening his window to play in games after the long road back to health. Without the benefit of a training camp or any padded practices to help get back up to speed, the transition returning to game action proved to be what he called the “craziest experience” of his football career and then some, as the team threw him into the fire in a Week 15 win against the Colts after just two weeks of practice time.
“It sucks. I mean, I think I knew that going into it, but when you're like every day standing out there, it's tough,” Mills told reporters after Monday’s third training camp practice. “But I feel like the coaches and the players, everyone kind of embraced it and helped me feel part of it. So that made it easier for me.”
Less than two months later, after shaking the rust off on the fly in four regular season and two playoff games with limited playing time, Mills found himself suiting up for the Super Bowl, emerging as an unlikely star under the brightest of lights. Likely a name few knew outside of Seattle going into the big game, especially with just three NFL tackles on his resume, he bullied fellow rookie guard Jared Wilson into the backfield and tackled both the blocker and Patriots quarterback Drake Maye for a highlight-worthy sack, drawing a stirring reaction from coaches and teammates alike.
Creating a memory fans won’t soon forget that has been the talk of the locker room in the months since, that lone spectacular play penned a triumphant final chapter to close the book on an otherwise challenging year for Mills, who quickly turned the page after hoisting the Lombardi Trophy with unbridled excitement about the looming offseason without having to worry about rehabbing an injury and actually being able to attack improving his game.
Unlike a year ago, Mills could be seen running around and punishing sleds with heavy hands during OTAs and minicamp at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center this spring, quite the refreshing change after spending months stuck on the sideline to begin his NFL career. No longer restricted to sharpening the mental aspects of his game, his first real offseason program has featured extensive action at multiple positions on Seattle’s front line, including 3-tech defensive tackle and 5-tech defensive end, along with receiving tough coaching from defensive coordinator Aden Durde - who pounded the table for his selection in the draft two years ago - on and off the field.
“It's been great. I feel like we have a great relationship,” Mills said of working with Durde, who previously coached defensive linemen in Dallas before coming to Seattle. “We've been watching film in the mornings, which has been great, but he's a great guy and I feel like we kind of get each other. So it's been great going through and he kind of gives me the feedback that I need to hear and it's been awesome. I feel like we're at a really good point right now.”
Considering how little he played last season and the fact he didn’t even practice until December, it would be easy to look at Mills’ rookie campaign as an unofficial “redshirt” year, but the player himself doesn’t see it that way. Instead, the hardships he endured last year provided a unique learning opportunity that he refused to not take advantage of.
Behind the scenes, the former Notre Dame standout worked diligently to strengthen his surgically repaired knee with the medical staff and put in the time in the classroom absorbing all the knowledge he could from the likes of veterans Leonard Williams and Jarran Reed as well as Durde, maximizing his preparation physically and mentally for when the time came to return to the field. Even if Mills couldn’t contribute on the field early on, his competitive nature outside of the lines quickly garnered the respect of coach Mike Macdonald, Durde, and the rest of the staff, eventually leading to his late season return when the odds seemed stacked against him at times.
“I feel like I learned a lot last year,” Mills explained. “I think getting to play was a great opportunity, but for me, I just kind of want to catapult off what happened in the Super Bowl and OTAs and I just want to be the best player that I can be and make the guys around me better.”
All smiles as he participates in training camp this time around, on the heels of a healthy, productive offseason, Mills has picked up where he left off after his heroic theatrics back in February. While the competition for snaps remains fierce in a crowded defensive line headlined by Williams, Byron Murphy II, and Reed, No. 98 hasn’t been difficult to notice in the first three days of camp, including blowing past rookie guard Beau Stephens during a red zone drill in Monday’s session before “two hand tapping” running back Jadarian Price four yards in the backfield for a tackle for loss and drawing cheers from Macdonald and others behind the action.
Light years ahead of where he was just 12 months ago, Mills now has sights on carving out a significant rotational role on the Seahawks’ stout defensive line, making a formidable unit that much better with his raw power, underrated quicks, and positional flexibility. Time will tell where he takes this latest opportunity now fully distanced from his injury, but Macdonald loves the progress he has seen from the player during the offseason and he looks to be on the right trajectory to become far more than a Super Bowl one-hit wonder entering his sophomore campaign.
“I'm happy for him. I know he's excited. He's the type of guy that you're going to feel his spirit out here and his competitiveness. There's things, part of his game that we're going to always be attacking, and he's going to take advantage of his opportunities. He's putting in the extra work. He's a football junkie. The whole process is what you respect about him the most is the amount of work that he's willing to put in behind the scenes, come out here and perform and execute. He's off to a good start.”
