Camp Takeaways: Demarcus Lawrence Setting Tone For Seahawks With Habits, Preparation
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Seattle Seahawks veteran outside linebacker Demarcus Lawrence works upfield during an individual drill at the team’s first training camp practice. Credit: Corbin Smith/Emerald City Spectrum [/caption]
RENTON, Wash. - Bringing an end to a long offseason and ushering in a new season, the Seattle Seahawks hit the practice field for the first time in their 50th training camp as a franchise on Wednesday, eager to hit the ground running as they start year No. 2 under coach Mike Macdonald.
After having strong attendance throughout the spring offseason program, Macdonald could feel the momentum from those practices in May and June as his ‘Hawks returned to town with the team light years ahead of where they were at this time last year when they were breaking in a new coaching staff and players had their heads spinning trying to learn new schemes on both sides of the football.
“I think it's fun to see the progress come from the spring and, I'll tell you what, the guys are on it, the intent is there,” Macdonald said in his opening statement post practice. “It's us as coaches like, ‘Hey, let's point out the things where we want to grow from day to day,’ but yeah, it's just great to have the guys back and we missed them.”
Recapping everything that went down at Seattle’s first official practice of the 2025 season, here are five takeaways from the VMAC:
1. Cited as “best drill player ever, “Demarcus Lawrence taking the lead by example with new team.
Enjoying far greater continuity than on the offensive side of the football, the Seahawks returned 13 of the top 14 defenders from last year’s squad in terms of snaps, including re-signing linebacker Ernest Jones and cornerback Josh Jobe early in free agency. But that didn’t stop the franchise from pursuing a seasoned veteran to further overhaul their outside linebacker group, as they inked former Cowboys Pro Bowler Demarcus Lawrence to a three-year deal to reunite with defensive coordinator Aden Durde, looking for him to add more bite off the edge as a run defender and pass rusher.
Statistically, Lawrence has been one of the most consistent all-around edges in the league for the past 11 years, racking up 450 tackles, 61.5 sacks, and 21 forced fumbles while making one All-Pro squad and four Pro Bowl teams. But while Macdonald loves what Lawrence adds to Seattle’s defense on the field for game day, it’s his practice habits and preparation that have impressed the head coach the most since the player arrived for offseason workouts in April, as he called him the “best drill player” he has ever seen and had eyes from other players closely watching him in the individual period on Wednesday for a reason.
“You could ask him to do any drill known to mankind, and just the trust he has on why you’re doing it,” Macdonald explained. “It is 1000 percent every rep, the intent of what he’s trying to create. That’s the standard he’s setting for our front so the guys don’t have a choice but to fall in line and it’s just exciting to see them out there working. You know what he can do on the field, the tape speaks for itself, but you understand how it comes to life based on how he works.”
As Macdonald pointed out to reporters, some veterans who have been in the league for as many years as Lawrence wouldn’t be willing to alter how they do things when joining a new team or may question why a coach wants him to do things a certain way. But the former Boise State star functions the exact opposite, openly taking to instruction from coaches with confidence in what he’s being taught and then applying what he has learned to drills with a clear purpose. Whether meticulously shoring up his footwork or dialing in on hand placement, his habits expose young players around him to an infectious workmanlike approach that forces everyone to step up in their own preparation efforts.
2. Compared to OTAs, Sam Darnold played faster and with decisiveness getting the football out of his hand.
Back in the spring, Darnold didn’t have a poor OTAs or mandatory minicamp for the Seahawks by any means, and he showed off the arm talent that led to his breakout season with the Vikings last year in spurts during spring practices. However, as expected playing in a new offense with a completely brand new group of receivers and tight ends, he endured plenty of growing pains, often struggling with holding onto the football too long even in a non-padded practice environment and making his share of mistakes in red zone drills that led to multiple interceptions in the end zone.
With the obvious caveat that the pads haven’t come out yet and much of Wednesday’s practice was conducted with ATC format at a walkthrough pace, Darnold appeared to take a strong step forward in the first day in camp. Among his highlight throws on the afternoon, he lofted a deep ball down the left sideline to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, feathering the ball over cornerback Devon Witherspoon along the sideline on what would have been a big play if the receiver could have kept his left foot from drifting out of bounds. He also threw a beautiful corner route to Cody White, who reeled in a diving catch that unfortunately didn’t count with his knee hitting out of bounds before his feet inbounds.
During the team periods, Darnold did a much better job of not holding onto the football too long, quickly unloading passes to complete five out of six throws and escaping to run the ball twice when he didn’t have any open options rather than being a sitting duck in the pocket. He also rolled out to his left and connected with a sliding Elijah Arroyo for a 17-yard completion, demonstrating an improved connection that Macdonald believes may have blossomed during player-organized practices led by the quarterback over the past four weeks in southern California.
“We talk a lot about ‘12 is One’ around here and it wasn’t like I’m going to Sam [Darnold] and telling him to get the guys together, I mean that was totally driven by Sam and the rest of the guys,” Macdonald said. “I don’t know how many routes they ran or how well it was, but it’s just important to be together, talk through those things. I think that sets them up to have a better start to camp and that’s really important.”
3. Jalen Sundell remains in the mix for playing time, but potentially at a different position than anticipated.
As Kubiak bluntly said during OTAs, the right guard battle in the middle of the Seahawks offense remains “wide open” and up for grabs. During spring practices open to media, second-year blocker Christian Haynes and third-year veteran Anthony Bradford split the lion’s share of reps with the first-team offense, resuming the competition that lasted all of training camp last August and continued into the regular season.
But while Haynes and Bradford may still be the favorites to start in Week 1 against San Francisco, Seattle could have a wild card option ready to jump into the battle in the uber-athletic Sundell, who had been seeing first-team reps at center in the spring rotating with Olu Oluwatimi. Previously playing snaps at all five offensive line spots during his college career at North Dakota State, including seeing action alongside rookie first-round pick Grey Zabel in Fargo, Macdonald said the second-year lineman won the Top Hawk Award for his strong efforts this offseason and earned the chance to see where he could fit as a potential starter.
“He keeps having great days,” Macdonald said of Sundell. “I’m excited to see how it shakes out. It’s going to take time, but it’ll declare itself. I don’t want to just put a number on the guys right now.”
With Sundell seeing some right guard action with the first-team offense on Wednesday, Haynes continued to get his feet wet at center, a position that he didn’t play at UConn during his college career. A few of his snaps came in low to Drew Lock, but he seemed to settle down as the team period progressed, and rapid improvement from him on that front could thrust him into the competition at the pivot spot as the Seahawks keep playing musical chairs looking for the best starting five in the trenches.
4. Facing critical third season, Mike Morris starts off on the right foot with Uchenna Nwosu sidelined.
Standing out as a possible concern brewing beneath the surface for Seattle’s defense, the departures of Roy Robertson-Harris and Cameron Young coupled with Johnathan Hankins dealing with a back injury and rookie Rylie Mills recovering from a torn ACL to open camp have casted questions about defensive line depth behind standout starters Leonard Williams, Jarran Reed, and Byron Murphy II. Away from those three players and Hankins, the team has limited game experience on the roster with nose tackles Quinton Bohanna and Brandon Pili being the seasoned vets with under 615 regular season snaps apiece.
Given these depth question marks, and the fact Nwosu started camp on the PUP list and “really isn’t close” to being ready per Macdonald, there may not be a player with more pressure to step up and perform heading into the 2025 season than Morris, who has yet to take a significant step forward due to injuries and lack of production in regular season games. After missing all but one game as a rookie with shoulder surgery, his role gradually became more diminished as last season unfolded, including playing a grand total of three defensive snaps in the Seahawks final eight games despite being healthy and active for seven of those contests. He finished the year with just five tackles in 15 games and posted a dismal three percent pass rush win rate according to Pro Football Focus.
Having previously played for Macdonald at Michigan in 2021, the Seahawks remain optimistic that 6-6, 295-pound Morris can emerge as a quality rotational contributor with the positional flexibility to play off the edge as well as defensive tackle. Wednesday’s session could serve as a much-needed stepping stone towards carving out a bigger role up front in his third season, as he got his hands on the football twice for pass deflections at the line of scrimmage and also exploded into the backfield on numerous occasions for what would have been tackles for loss in padded practices, including wrapping up running back Kenny McIntosh with one arm to stonewall him, making his presence felt throughout team periods.
When asked what he needs to see from Morris to earn more snaps on Sundays, Macdonald indicated the veteran needs to play more consistently and take better advantage of his opportunities when the pads come on and game action returns next month. But he remains hopeful that the player can do just that this summer and become more of a notable fixture in Seattle’s defensive line rotation.
“We take pride in the guys who play multiple spots. But the things that Mike is great at just [need to] show when the pads come on, when competition hits, and we start playing preseason games. He knows that, it’s a production business. But we’re excited about Mike. He’s one of those bigger guys that can play the edge and reduce down. He’s got a pretty cool skill set.”
5. Ken Walker III, Zach Charbonnet pass the initial inspection in Klint Kubiak’s offense.
Until the pads come on, evaluating running backs will be tricky business, as defenders might as well have a matador cape in their hands in the first four or five practices to start training camp since they can’t wrap up or make tackles. Still, when it comes to the eye test, both Walker and Charbonnet looked impressive in Wednesday’s first practice, running with the explosiveness and suddenness necessary to excel in a zone-heavy run scheme.
Back healthy after being limited in OTAs and minicamp by an ankle sprain, much to the delight of Macdonald, Walker certainly hasn’t missed leg day this offseason, as he appears noticeably bigger in the lower body with thighs on the verge of tearing out of his shorts. With that added strength, he hasn’t lost a step either, as he rocketed out of his stance and got downhill in a heartbeat on several runs during Wednesday’s practice, pinballing his way through traffic with elite lateral agility and burst. All the coach could do was grin ear-to-ear when asked about the electric back’s “great first day.”
“He looks great. He's in a great spot, mentally,” Macdonald said. “Just awesome seeing him do all the things that we wanted him to do from the get go. I know he's really excited about what's going on.”
Meanwhile, with a new challenger in rookie Damien Martinez and McIntosh eager to push for reps behind him, Charbonnet provided a friendly reminder why he enjoyed a strong second half last season replacing an injured Walker. A bit more lean compared to 2024, he looked noticeably shiftier in Wednesday’s session, twice bouncing runs outside before turning upfield down the sideline for big gains while outrunning multiple defenders in pursuit. He also snagged a nice one-handed grab early in the first team session, once again showcasing his underrated receiving skills while making it clear he has no intention of letting any other backs pass him on the depth chart.
