Last year, the Seattle Seahawks were in for a surprise. Not that Pete Carroll will be replaced by Mike Macdonald, but that they will have joint practices. The Seahawks did not have those in 33 years after Chuck Knox, but Mike has been seeing advantages in practicing with opponents since his tenure in the NFL. In his words, “It’s an opportunity to put (the understanding of how other coaches operate) in a setting where you can control the tempos, control the drills, get some high intensity [workouts] for the guys so they’re ready to roll… It’ll be good to see another offense. And for our offense, it’d be good to see what they’re running on defense. It’s just good to see different styles.” While it did not help the team much last season, ending at a 10-7 record, Macdonald still seems to hold these joint practices in high regards. In fact, he had it all planned out.

Back in April, Macdonald had his strategy laid out for the reporters– ideally two joint practices, both at home and on the road. In 2024, he only got to practice with the Tennessee Titans on road when they also played a preseason matchup with them along with two joint training sessions in Nashville. Interestingly, this time around, Mike was willing to change the opponents. This time, he targeted the Green Bay Packers. And Matt LaFleur has accepted Mike’s request to practice on their home turf while they also have a practice session with the Colts in Indy during preseason matchups. Along with the Packers, the Seattle boss has two more names in his mind– the Las Vegas Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs. However, there was one speed bump.

Historically, Andy Reid has never opted for a joint practice, neither as the HC for the Philadelphia Eagles nor with the Chiefs. As for his predecessor in Carroll, well, he never wanted other NFL teams to know how they trained, even when he was in Seattle. So certainly, when Macdonald did reach the two Super Bowl winning coaches, the response was, well, a little different than expected by the HC as NFL reporter Brady Henderson reported.

Yesterday, Brady tweeted how the joint practice sessions for the Seahawks will look like. He wrote, “The Seahawks are expected to hold joint practices with the Packers in Green Bay ahead of their Aug. 23 preseason finale, as @mattschneidman said. Mike Macdonald wanted to have joint practices with another preseason opponent, but neither Pete Carroll nor Andy Reid do them.”

As of now, the Seattle team will have at least one joint session to test their mettle. And with not much time left to test the waters, half of Mike’s wish might not come true this season.

In Andy Reid’s case, the Chiefs will face the Seahawks only once in the upcoming season. They will go head-to-head in the preseason only, that is, on August 15. The Chiefs, never having a joint practice session in history, most likely are not in any mood to change now. The Seahawks also have the first game of the pre-season scheduled against the Raiders, but Pete Carroll is leaving no chance for Mike Macdonald’s team to know their secret moves.

Well, no worries, the Packers have accepted their request and now both the teams will be having a preseason joint practice session. Let’s dive in to know more.

The Packers accepted Mike Macdonald’s request

The 2nd-year Seahawks head coach is changing the basic structure of the franchise in terms of practice and preparation. As we know, they held a joint practice session with the Titans last year before week 2 of the preseason. This time, the Packers will be involved in their sessions. The Seahawks will be facing the Packers in week 3 of the preseason. But before stepping on the gridiron, they are set to train together.

According to The Athletic beat reporter and NFL reporter, Matt Schneidman, “The Green Bay Packers will be hosting the Seahawks for joint practices ahead of their preseason matchup this summer. This will be ahead of both teams’ final preseason game of the year, scheduled for Saturday afternoon (1:00 p.m. PT), August 23 at Lambeau Field.”

The Seattle Seahawks have Sam Darnold, who led the Vikings with a 14-3 record in the previous season. While the Packers have Jordan Love, who also led the team to the playoffs last season, but ended it against the eventual Super Bowl champions, the Eagles.

The Seahawks ended up 10-7 in 2024, which was a bit below-average performance, and not exactly a rise from 9-8 record of 2023 under Pete. But this time, Mike Macdonald is not likely to repeat the same. But with a new QB, it looks difficult. In Darnold’s last game of the previous season, he was sacked nine times. So, the team will have to get familiar with the new QB. Let’s see what will happen.