All it took was one preseason game for Seattle Seahawks rookie defensive lineman Byron Murphy II to get attention on a national scale.

Insider: Seahawks have an unheralded DB who could break out

Murphy, the Seahawks’ top pick and the first defensive player taken in the 2024 NFL Draft at No. 16 overall out of Texas, had a number of NFL insiders shouting him out early this week after making his on-field debut in Seattle’s 16-3 preseason win over the Los Angeles Chargers last Saturday.

On social media, there was this post from the NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah that served as a warning for the Seahawks’ division rivals.

PSA for NFC West teams- You better have a plan for blocking Byron Murphy II. He’s going to be a big problem. Exceptional Quicks, leverage and power.

— Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) August 13, 2024

Then on TV there was Marcus Spears, a former NFL defensive end who now regularly appears on ESPN’s NFL Live, Get Up! and First Take programs.

“Byron Murphy, the defensive lineman for Seattle, was physical. Getting into the backfield, making negative plays, being super active and pushing the pocket into the lap of the quarterback,” Spears said. “… His cat quickness is something that we talked about pre-draft… The ability to stay tight and be strong and dynamic on the interior of the pocket reminds me a lot of what Christian Wilkins did in Miami. It just kept coming to my mind is that is how Christian Wilkins plays. He’s active and always around the football.”

After hearing Spears’ comments, Seattle Sports’ Michael Bumpus – himself a former NFL wide receiver – used them as a way to explain how the 6-foot, 306-pound Murphy will help the Seahawks’ defense.

“He’s not gonna be the guy like (Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle) Chris Jones, I think, to get 10-plus sacks and wow you like that,” Bumpus said on Tuesday’s edition of Bump and Stacy. “You’re only going to have about two interior defensive linemen a year kind of play to that level. That’s not what you need him to do. You need him to do exactly what Marcus Spears described – get into the backfield and collapse the pocket, because once you have pressure up the middle, now these quarterbacks have to do what? Escape outside. You got Uchenna (Nwosu) waiting on one side, got Boye (Mafe) waiting on the other side. … His job is to create sacks for the other guys. (And) if he ends up getting sacks himself, then good for him.”

Combining Murphy with Macdonald

Next, Bumpus and his co-host Stacy Rost listened to what Mina Kimes had to say on the ESPN airwaves about Murphy, which included a comparison to a player who new Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald helped in his previous role as Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator.

“I absolutely loved what I saw out of him,” Kimes said. “The power that he’s able to generate with his lower half, getting low against those double teams, the agility… I’m so curious to see how Mike Macdonald deploys him. You remember Justin Madubuike having his career year last year in Baltimore. I would not be surprised if we see really good production from Byron Murphy II in Year 1 because he seems to have that special talent.”

Bumpus dove further into how Macdonald’s defensive scheme could mean big things with Murphy in the mix.

“When we talk about defensive line, (Macdonald) knows how to maximize them, he knows how to create these matchups and these illusions for the offensive line that allow guys like Byron Murphy to maybe slip through the cracks and cause chaos in the backfield,” Bumpus said. “So when you have a track record of producing one of the best defenses of all-time – like, I don’t think people realize how good that defense was with Baltimore… his experience with these type of players is what really gets me excited about Byron Murphy. Not only Byron Murphy, but (Jarran) Reed, Leonard Williams – I mean, there are a bunch of guys here who can benefit from Mike Macdonald.

“Experience is everything. He knows how to use them and he knows how to coach them up. He’s a linebacker coach at heart so he spends a lot of time with these defensive linemen. I see nothing but good coming from the situation.”

Bump and Stacy airs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays on Seattle Sports. Listen to the full conversation about Byron Murphy II in the middle segment of the podcast at this link or in the player near the top of this post.

More Seattle Seahawks coverage

• A lesser-known Seahawks WR has Michael Bumpus’ attention
• Big Ray: A Seahawks rookie OL ‘jumped off the screen’
• Seahawks hoping addition of center Connor Williams will solidify O-line
• Brock and Salk: What stood out in Seahawks’ preseason win
• Brock: The Seattle Seahawks player who had best preseason opener

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The bad career news keeps coming for former Seattle Mariners ace pitcher Marco Gonzales, who has seen his season end for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Per Bob Pompeani on social media:

#Pirates placed left-handed pitcher Marco Gonzales on the 60-day injured list with a left forearm strain. Done for the year

This is yet another elbow issue for the 32-year-old Gonzales. He was already on the injured list for elbow problems earlier this year, which followed up his elbow issues from 2023 with the Mariners. He made only 10 starts with Seattle in 2023 because of the problems – and he pitched to an ERA of 5.22 to boot.

While nothing is officially out yet, it’s fair to speculate if Gonzales needs another elbow procedure. Last August, he had season-ending surgery to address a nerve issue in his forearm. If he needs something more serious this time around, he could be looking at missing all of 2025.

Gonzales spent parts of seven years with the Mariners after being acquired by in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals. He won 13 games for the M’s in 2018 as the team pushed for a playoff berth and then became the ace in 2019 and 2020, winning 16 games in the 2019 season and going 7-2 in the COVID 2020 season. He won double-digit games in both 2021 and 2022 as well.

The Mariners traded him to the Atlanta Braves this past offseason. Atlanta turned around and shipped him to the Pirates in a separate move.

NEW PODCAST IS OUT: The latest episode of the “Refuse to Lose” podcast is out as Brady Farkas talks about the series sweep against the New York Mets, the appearance on “Sunday Night Baseball,” the contract extension for Victor Robles and the questions it presents. Furthermore, he’s joined by Seattle Sports media legend Mitch Levy and our own Mariners on SI beat reporter Teren Kowatsch. CLICK HERE:

CRAWFORD ON THE MEND: JP Crawford has been out since July 22 with a broken pinky, but he’s on the mend. Here’s the latest on his recovery efforts and his timeline. CLICK HERE:

STICKING AROUND: After much discussion about the possibility, Victor Robles has agreed to a two-year contract extension with the Mariners. Here’s what you need to know. CLICK HERE:

Continue to follow our Inside the Mariners coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and by following Teren Kowatsch and Brady Farkas on “X” @Teren_Kowatsch and @wdevradiobrady. You can subscribe to the “Refuse to Lose” podcast by clicking HERE:

SEATTLE – A baby gorilla at Woodland Park Zoo failed to bond with his mother and will be sent to be with a surrogate at another facility.

Members of the zoo say they have made the “critical decision” to move the six week old gorilla to another location to ensure he will be raised as a gorilla, by gorillas. 

“Because [the baby’s mother] Akenji hadn’t shown any interest in caring for her baby, human intervention was necessary; gorilla staff have been providing 24/7 care for the baby since shortly after he was born. Further attempts to unite mom and baby were unsuccessful,” the zoo said in a statement.

The baby was born at the zoo on June 28, 2024. As efforts with the birth mother floundered, staff say they made multiple efforts to get the baby boy to bond with other gorillas within the facility. However, those efforts failed as well.

Baby gorilla at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, WA. (Photo courtesy of Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren)

Now, zoo employees are working with a list of potential surrogates from around the country to place the currently-unnamed baby with.

“We include this option in our birth management planning in case it becomes necessary. We’re confident the infant will be placed in a great home, and we’ll share final details upon his safe arrival,” said Martin Ramirez, Interim Senior Director of Animal Care at Woodland Park Zoo.

They say more information will become available soon on the results of these efforts to rehome the baby boy.

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