‘Job is Not Done’: Seahawks’ Vets Preaching Same Approach for Youthful Squad Entering Playoffs
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Seattle Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV (13) celebrates after a play during the second half against Washington Commanders at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images [/caption]
RENTON, Wash. - Prior to the start of the 2025 season, the Seattle Seahawks boasted one of the youngest rosters in the NFL with an average age of 25.77, ranking fifth at the time of final roster cutdowns in early September.
Considering that youth, which has been spearheaded by several fantastic draft classes hauled in by general manager John Schneider and Seattle’s scouting department, plenty of players will be making their playoff debuts on Saturday night when the San Francisco 49ers come to town for a much-anticipated Divisional Round rematch between bitter NFC West rivals. Among those who will experiencing postseason football for the first time, left guard Grey Zabel will have to acclimate to the brightest of stages in a win or go home situation with a berth to the NFC Championship Game on the line.
Fortunately for players such as Zabel, however, the Seahawks have several playoff tested veterans for the youngsters to lean on and seek words of wisdom from heading into Saturday. This includes fifth-year linebacker Ernest Jones, one of four players on the current roster who has won a Super Bowl, as he earned a ring as part of the Rams’ championship squad in 2021.
What words of advice does Jones have for teammates who have never been through the rigors of a playoff run? It’s simple: don’t treat the situation any differently than the regular season and enjoy the ride.
“We are close. We're close to something that a lot people don't get a chance to do,” Jones told reporters on Tuesday. “But if you start thinking about that game or that opportunity, you miss out on the good moments you'll have as you're going through this process. But ultimately it takes one game at a time. We’ve got to handle San Fran first and then whoever they send next to us so we can get to the ultimate goal.”
In the heat of playoff season in January, it can be a challenge for young players to overcome the weight of the moment with so much at stake. During the regular season, there’s a guarantee of 17 games, but that element of certainty disappears in the postseason with every team one defeat away from cleaning out their lockers and heading to a long offseason, leaving no margin for error.
Like Jones, defensive tackle Jarran Reed understands what sits on the line for the Seahawks, having been through the finality of playoff football on several occasions in his career. The 10-year veteran has participated in the postseason five times, including playing into the middle of January four of his first five seasons in Seattle and later helping Kansas City advance to the AFC Championship Game in 2021, but he has been on the outside looking in each of the previous three seasons.
Echoing Jones’ sentiments, especially after not playing in the playoffs the previous three seasons and now getting another shot to relish an opportunity pursuing a Lombardi Trophy, Reed has counseled younger teammates while the “job is not done,” they can’t afford to view this week as any more important than preparing for a regular season game. Wielding the same approach that got Seattle to this position to this position in the first place, he stressed the importance of not changing up a thing in everything from film review to positional meetings to maintaining their bodies pre-and-post practice.
“Do what we been doing the whole season,” Reed remarked. “Lock into your film work. Make sure your preparation is right. Make sure your body is right, body and mind. You know, go into the week feeling good. Go into the game playing, feeling good and try to know it inside out if you can.”
If there’s an advantage for several of Seattle’s newcomers to the playoff scene, recent draft picks such as Byron Murphy II and AJ Barner have been in the heat of battle competing for national championships at Texas and Michigan respectively. While competing for FCS championships isn’t on the same spectrum as the NFL playoffs by any means, Zabel and center Jalen Sundell, who played together at North Dakota State before earning starting jobs next to each other with the Seahawks, also have the benefit of having experienced similar win or go home circumstances from their time with the Bison.
Even if comparing the two college-level tournaments to the NFL playoffs isn’t quite apples to apples, the desperation with one team advancing and one team packing up for the season remains the same, and the value of competing in those opportunities cannot be understated when it comes to being prepared for what awaits on Saturday at Lumen Field.
Starring in the middle of the defensive line for the Longhorns, Murphy tallied four tackles and five pressures in a College Football Playoff loss to the Washington Huskies in 2023, performing quite well in a losing effort. That same tournament, though he didn’t record any catches in two playoff games, Barner’s blocking prowess helped open up running room for a dominant Wolverines’ rushing attack as they edged the Huskies in the National Championship Game. Both players were invaluable in leading the programs to the final four that season and know what it takes to win big games.
Only a select number of teams earn the privilege of playing into January at the college level, but in three of his five years in campus, Sundell did just that by playing in FCS Championship contests for the Bison, helping them win two of those games to add to their trophy case as the most decorated Division I-AA program in the nation. As for Zabel, three of his five seasons in a NDSU uniform culminated with title game appearances after lengthy tournament runs, including defeating Montana State 35-32 as a senior.
Having been on both sides of the scoreboard during the FCS playoffs, speaking from the perspective of being on the losing end in a few nailbiters while playing in Fargo, Zabel doesn’t want to be looking back at film next week and wondering if a play or two going differently would have allowed Seattle to keep playing for another week. It comes down to embracing a “fourth and one” mentality from start to finish, finding a way to grapple victory away from the hands of defeat by any means necessary.
“Do whatever it takes to get that yard and an inch to keep going,” Zabel said. “We always talk about it like box score doesn't show physicality, doesn't show yards, all that. It just shows points. A win and a loss. So you want to be on the winning side no matter what. Doesn't matter how ugly it is, how pretty is it. We always say an ugly win is better than a good loss. Whatever it takes, we got to find a way to win.”
Of course, not every Seahawk who will be playing in his first playoff game this weekend shares those same experiences at the college level. From that standpoint, those players may be the ones who need the most encouragement this week to make sure they don’t make circumstances more heightened than they need to be and stay within themselves in the preparation process.
And even for those such as Murphy, Barner, Sundell, and Zabel who have been in winner-takes-all tournaments at the college level, the environment they will encounter on Saturday night will take everything up a notch. Or several.
“Kind of in the back of your head, it's that nightmare fuel of if we don't win this one we're done for the season,” Zabel acknowledged. “It's Kumbaya, which I'm not ready for that. I don't think anyone in the locker room is ready for that.”
Aiming not to give in to the aforementioned nightmare fuel, finding a way to calm the pre-game nerves and jitters with the decibel level from the 12s in Lumen Field being raised to a level that has been proven to cause earthquake readings in the past will be critical for Seattle. That’s why the messaging during the days leading up to the big game will be as important as anything that actually happens on the field Saturday.
But at the same time, Jones doesn’t expect Zabel or other youngsters jumping into the playoff stage for the first time to be negatively impacted by the intensified energy in the building. Instead, everything that has happened in the past four-plus months climbing up the ladder to win both the NFC West and the No. 1 seed has been building up to and preparing to embrace the moment.
With him, Reed, and other playoff tested vets carrying the torch, Jones isn’t worried about rookies and other first-timers to the tournament not being ready for the stage. And he’s certainly not expecting Zabel and the rest of the team to start singing Kumbaya, either.
“I think this group has learned how to feed into that. We learned how to feed into it and be able to calm it down when we have to calm it down and turn it up when we have to. Expecting the environment to be electric. I'm excited. I can't wait.”
