Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith threw for 363 yards and three touchdowns in Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams, yet in his mind, it wasn’t enough to make up for his mistakes, not even close.

Smith, now in his third season as Seattle’s starter, threw three costly interceptions throughout the day. Two of those picks came deep in the red zone during the fourth quarter, including a 103-yard pick six that gave Los Angeles a 20-13 lead.

The loss isn’t entirely on him, but Smith knows that mistakes like that simply aren’t a recipe for winning football.

“First of all, I want to start off by apologizing to my teammates, really, and to the city, to the organization,” Smith said postgame. “They put a lot of trust in me with my decision-making, and when they put the ball in my hands, when my teammates play the way they played today and to give us a shot to win the game, I’ve got to make sure we do.

“The things I did today, mistakes that I made, they affected us negatively and really cost us the game today. Me knowing myself, I know how much this is going to hurt. I’m going to step it up, though. That’s how I feel about it. I’m going to step it up.”

Part of the reason Smith feels so responsible is seeing his teammates playing so well. Jaxon Smith-Njigba had his best game as a pro with seven receptions for 180 yards and two touchdowns, while practice squad elevation Cody White had two huge receptions for 44 yards. As such, Smith felt that his mistakes made those performances and more go to waste.

“All those situations just led me to think, man, we’ve got to get it done, I’ve got to get it done for my guys and for the city. I really feel like I let everybody down today. I really do.”

Through nine games this season, Smith has completed 68.1 percent of his passes for a league-leading 2,560 yards, 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. While he’s putting up a ton of yards, he’d like to throw more touchdowns and fewer picks going forward.

“If I’m being honest, I could play better and I could correct a lot of things,” Smith said. “That’s the job of the quarterback is to overcome and ultimately to get wins. When we’re in position to get wins, I’ve got to make it happen.”

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It took several confusing hours, but it’s been reported that Seattle Mariners outfielder Mitch Haniger has exercised his $17.5 million player option for 2025.

The MLB deadline for players and teams to exercise options was at 2 p.m. PT on Monday. That deadline came and went with no official word from the Mariners or reporters and insiders whether or not Haniger had exercised his option.

There was speculation from fans over why Haniger hadn’t chosen to opt-in, considering it was unlikely he would earn $17.5 million in 2025 in free agency.

As it turns out, Haniger did exercise his option. It just wasn’t reported at the deadline.

Haniger was still on the updated Seattle 40-man roster on MLB.com that included injured players activated off the 60-day injured list on Monday.

There was also a list of free agent players released by the MLB Player’s Association (that has since been deleted) that did not list Haniger among them.

If that wasn’t enough indication that Haniger had exercised his option, a report from MLB Trade Rumors writer Anthony Franco confirmed it.

Haniger is coming off a down season in 2024. He batted .208 with 12 home runs and 44 RBIs.

Haniger’s play time decreased when Dan Wilson was hired as manager on Aug. 22. He received only 43 plate appearances after Wilson was hired.

Haniger’s name is all over the Mariners record books. He set the career franchise record with walk-offs with his eighth in 2024. He’s also fifth in club history in home runs at T-Mobile Park with 58 and is 10th all time in franchise history in overall homers with 119.

Barring a trade or him being designated for assignment, Haniger will be the second highest-paid player on Seattle’s roster in 2025 behind franchise star Julio Rodriguez ($19.912 million).

FORMER MARINERS OUTFIELDER JOINS MARINERS TOP RIVAL: A 2024 World Series champion and former Seattle Mariners outfielder was acquired by the team’s biggest division rivals on Monday. CLICK HERE

RALEIGH, MOORE JOIN PRESTIGIOUS LIST OF FRANCHISE GOLD GLOVE HONORS: Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh and infielder Dylan Moore became the latest Gold Glove winners in a list that includes several team legends and Hall of Famers. CLICK HERE

IMPORTANT DEADLINE PASSES FOR MARINERS OUTFIELDER: A longtime Seattle Mariner is set to be one of the highest earners on the team, based on a decision he apparently made on Monday. CLICK HERE

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RENTON, Wash. – One week after calling the cornerback spot opposite of Riq Woolen an open competition, Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald isn’t showing his cards on his plans on whether Tre Brown or Josh Jobe will be starting after a much-needed bye week.

With Jobe exhausting his three practice squad elevations in Sunday’s 26-20 overtime loss to the Rams and Brown still working back from an ankle sprain, Macdonald hinted that a spot on the 53-man roster could be coming soon, as the Seahawks will have to figure out where he fits into the equation as early as this week with players out of town.

“We’re going to have to make a couple of personnel decisions this week,” Macdonald said. “So that’ll be on the docket for sure.” 

Guarded as expected, Macdonald didn’t provide any guarantees on Jobe’s status, and he certainly wasn’t going to announce him as the starter two weeks before Seattle’s next game at San Francisco. There’s time to not rush into any judgments and breaking down film in coming days will be part of the equation.

But Macdonald has made rewarding players who earn reps on the practice field a priority, evidenced by the fact Jobe has started over Brown each of the past two weeks despite the latter being active and suited up. While Brown’s health has been cited as a reason for that, the fact he hasn’t played a snap in either of the previous two games proves Jobe has gained the trust of the coaching staff and thus earned himself more chances to play.

“You’ve got to go earn it every day in practice. That’s the message,” Macdonald said on Monday. “Guys that bring it every day and show up in practice and show up in games and help us win, they’re going to play. If you take a step back, then you’ve got to be accountable.”

With those opportunities, while he hasn’t been perfect and allowed a couple of explosive receptions in coverage in a Week 8 loss to the Bills, it’s safe to say Jobe has not only showed up, but also exceeded expectations, making it far tougher for Macdonald and his staff to plug Brown back into his previous starting spot. Or, from a half glass full mindset, easier to wait things out and make sure Brown is fully healthy.

Through three starts, Jobe has allowed just seven catches on 16 targets, including one reception on four targets for 16 yards in Sunday’s loss to the Rams. Those receptions have turned into 129 yards and north of 18 yards per reception, but he hasn’t surrendered a touchdown, picked off Josh Allen two weeks ago on a near-defensive touchdown, and has three pass breakups, producing a sterling 46.1 passer rating in coverage.

Even considering a still small sample size with 108 snaps in coverage so far, per Pro Football Focus charting, Jobe ranks second in passer rating allowed behind only Bears star Jaylon Johnson. He also ranks fifth in completion percentage against (43.8 percent) and 14th in forced incompletion rate (19 percent). Despite playing less than half the games of his peers at cornerback, he also has the same number of pass breakups as Woolen and Devon Witherspoon.

Of course, context matters and must be considered in conjunction with raw stats. On one of the incompletions thrown in Jobe’s direction yesterday, Rams receiver Tutu Atwell would have had a first down along the sideline, only to drop a well-thrown ball from Matthew Stafford. He also drew a pass interference penalty on Cooper Kupp in the red zone that led to a touchdown pass to Demarcus Robinson to open the third quarter.

Still, Brown wasn’t exactly tearing it up before injuring his ankle in a loss to the Giants in Week 5, yielding a 136.6 passer rating in coverage with two touchdowns and 15.4 yards per reception allowed. That could be part of the rationale behind why the Seahawks have been hesitant to rush him back into action in the first place.

If Macdonald wants to truly run a ship where players earn opportunities on merit and not a predisposed status, sending Jobe back to the bench when he has played quite well in in Brown’s stead would be counterintuitive to that message and could potentially have a detrimental impact in Seattle’s locker room.

Losing five of their previous six games, the Seahawks have no shortage of concerns that must be addressed by the coaching staff as well as the front office over the next several days. On the plus side, Jobe’s standout play has created a positive dilemma to work out, and it will be interesting to see if Macdonald continues to back up his words by awarding him with a starting job he has rightfully earned and at least sticking with the hot hand for now.

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