What to do about the Seahawks’ offensive line? Mike Macdonald answers — some of that

There are two events from his head-coaching debut Mike Macdonald does not want to see again.

Marshawn Lynch rubbing his neck and shoulders on the sideline while the Seahawks’ new coach is trying to call a play.

And how his offensive line performed to begin the season.

Guess which one was far worse than the other for the intense coach in Seattle’s opening-game win over the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

“That was funny. It was a cool moment, an awesome moment,” Macdonald said Monday of the retired Seahawks icon surprised him on the sideline late in the first quarter while the coach was trying to call a play for his new defense.

“Marshawn, he’s embedded in this organized. He played the way we want to play.

“How many massages will we welcome going forward? I don’t know.

“Hopefully we are playing good enough on defense.”

The NFL’s youngest head coach, 37, smiled at that.

He was not smiling about his offensive line. Not in the first half of the opener.

Offensive line’s horrid start

Seattle fell behind 13-9 largely because of its blockers. On the first play of the season, right tackle George Fant got pushed by Broncos edge rusher Jonathan Cooper into quarterback Geno Smith for a sack.

On the second play Denver tackle D.J. Jones used a quick swim move to get past new Seahawks center Connor Williams, Jones hit Smith in the legs as he threw a wayward interception over the middle. Denver turned that into a field goal and an early lead.

In the second quarter with the game tied at 3, right guard Anthony Bradford blatantly held Jones in the end zone on a running play away from them. The officials flagged Bradford for the holding, with the spot of the foul in the end zone. By rule, that’s a safety. Denver led 5-3.

Then with Seattle backed up to its goal line again in the second quarter, left guard Laken Tomlinson got beaten soundly off the snap by Denver’s Zach Allen. Allen dumped Seattle running back Zach Charbonnet in the end zone on a run for another safety. Denver led 10-9.

Fant left the game with a knee injury after 13 plays. The 32-year-old ninth-year veteran was starting because regular right tackle Abe Lucas remains out indefinitely following offseason knee surgery.

Macdonald didn’t know Monday afternoon how severe Fant’s injury is. The coach said Fant’s status is “day to day” for Seattle’s game at New England (1-0) Sunday.

Stone Forsythe, Seattle’s Plan C right tackle, got pushed back by Cooper into Smith multiple times Sunday playing the final 53 snaps for Fant.

Macdonald was asked to assess Forysthe’s game on Sunday.

“Stone, I mean, he did a solid job,” the coach said. “We ended up winning the football game.”

Macdonald said Forsythe allowed some edge rushes the coaches and players will clean up.

Williams made his Seahawks debut two weeks after he began practicing for them. He signed a one-year contract with $3 million guaranteed in free agency from Miami last month. Eight and a half months ago he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, then had reconstructive surgery.

“Connor did a great job,” Macdonald said. “I mean, there are a lot of things that we are asking of that position. The way he leads the group, I think he does a great job. Just the fact that he’s learned this entire, new vocabulary in such a short amount of time and is able to direct the show speaks volumes about him. ...

“Just really excited for Connor. I thought it was a great first game for him.”

The first game was the latest reminder new line coach Scott Huff might have the toughest job inside Seahawks headquarters this season.

“There is room for improvement,” Macdonald said of his offensive line.

“I mean, there’s no one who’s going to turn the tape on of the first half and be excited about what they saw.

“But to their credit they kept plugging away. I thought the second half the guys played well together. There were a couple plays you want back, but on the whole I thought the second half was a great job of those guys responding and playing some good football.”

Improvement in 2nd half vs. Denver

Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb changed his play calling to more lateral runs after halftime, away from where Denver’s interior defensive line was dominating the game early. Lead back Kenneth Walker had 19 yards on seven carries in the first half but 84 yards on 13 rushes with a touchdown after halftime.

Walker’s seventh career 100-yard day sparked the offense, opened up Smith’s passing game and sent Seattle to 17 unanswered points. The Seahawks rallied into a 26-13 lead before allowing a late touchdown for the 26-20 win.

“Football brings a lot of adversity and when you have adversity in front of you, you just have to go through,” said left tackle Charles Cross, the one Seahawks linemen who didn’t get dominated consistently Sunday.

“You have to go through it. There’s no way around it.”

Tomlinson just began his 10th NFL season and first with Seattle. He said he was proud of how his O-line and the Seahawks’ offense responded to that horrid first half.

He credited Smith, the team’s 33-year-old captain, for leading the offense out of the abyss against Denver.

“Battling through everything that happened in the first half, everyone kept their composure,” Tomlinson said.

“I’m so proud of Geno, man. Really brought the offense together. Brought us together on the sidelines and gave us a message and kept motivating guys, and in that second half we were rolling man. We were rolling.”

If they play like they did the first two quarters against the Broncos, the Patriots this coming Sunday, the Miami Dolphins next week, the Detroit Lions after that and all other Seahawks foes will be feasting on Smith and Grubb’s offense all season.

What are the Seahawks’ O-line options?

All of which leads to a question: How does Macdonald, Huff, Grubb and the coaching staff balance letting the starting offensive line play through issues with trying other options?

“It’s, what’s the plan going into a game? What’s your rotation? Maybe giving another guy a shot, giving him a breather, let them regroup,” Macdonald said.

“But we felt like, just keep going. Just keep at it and stick with it. And to those guys’ credit, they just kept battling it out. We saw the dividends pay off for them.”

That raises a second question about Seattle’s offensive line: Who are those potential options beyond the current starters?

Lucas must miss a minimum of four games by NFL rules on the physically-unable-to-perform list he’s on.

Forsythe was the last true tackle active to play Sunday. That’s because rookie sixth-round pick Michael Jerrell was inactive for the opener.

Jerrell is likely to be active and available at New England.

Rookie draft picks Christian Haynes and Sataoa Laumea are the backup guards to Bradford and Tomlinson. Haynes, the third round pick who played exclusively at right guard at the University of Connecticut, played one snap when Bradford limped off and missed one play in the first quarter against Denver.

Olu Oluwatimi, the Rimington Award winner at Michigan as college football’s best center two years ago, was thought to be Seattle’s starting center for 2024. But if the Seahawks wanted him to play, they wouldn’t have courted Williams beginning in the spring, as general manager John Schneider said the Seahawks did. They certainly would not have signed Williams and guaranteed him $3 million for this season.

Tomlinson, the line’s most experienced blocker, doesn’t see the need for change. The offense’s — and the line’s — second half against Denver encouraged him.

“We know what we have in this locker room. We just have to go out there and execute,” Tomlinson said. “We showed that. We showed that in the second half.

“If we can execute like that, we can go out and play high-level football.”