RENTON, Wash. – Normally a man of few words, with communication being a critical aspect of the job from on-field communication to press conferences, first-time head coach Mike Macdonald has had to open up a bit more as he begins his tenure with the Seattle Seahawks.

Still feeling things out with OTAs kicking off this week at the VMAC, Macdonald acknowledged developing a rapport with his new players remains a work in progress and there isn’t a magic wand to instantly create a “mutual understanding of what kind of football team we want to be.” But before he could wrap up his response following Wednesday’s practice, a boisterous Devon Witherspoon decided to chime in while grabbing a Gatorade on his way into the facility.

“Let ’em know coach, let ’em know!” Witherspoon enthusiastically shouted.

Along with drawing laughs from reporters, Macdonald couldn’t help but crack a big smile and said “See, ‘Spoon knows!” before quickly shifting back into his serious, all-business demeanor and fielding the next question.

Known for his reserved, soft-spoken style, Macdonald won’t be mistaken with his predecessor Pete Carroll, whose infectious energy and rah-rah personality seemingly permeated throughout the entire Pacific Northwest anytime Seattle hit the field. But if there’s one commonality between the two coaches, it’s their affinity for Witherspoon, which shouldn’t come as a shocker considering the immense impact he already has had in his brief time with the franchise.

Coming to the Pacific Northwest carrying lofty expectations as the fifth overall pick, Witherspoon managed to live up to the hype and then some. After missing the season opener recovering from a hamstring injury, he posted a historic stat line while seeing snaps both as an outside cornerback and slot defender, becoming just the seventh player and only rookie since 1999 to record at least 14 pass breakups, three sacks, and eight tackles for loss in the same season.

From an advanced metrics perspective, whether in man or zone coverage, Witherspoon held his own shutting down opposing receivers. Per Pro Football Focus, he allowed only seven catches on 15 targets in man coverage with three pass breakups and no touchdowns while finishing eighth in forced incompletions. Equally dominant in zone, ranking in the top 15 in receiving yards allowed and pass breakups while also finishing in the top 10 in forced incompletions.

Despite playing on one of the worst rushing defenses in the NFL, the Seahawks would have been significantly worse without Witherspoon, who finished in top 10 among cornerbacks in run stops, run stop percentage, and solo tackles while adding five tackles for loss versus the run.

Even more impressively, Witherspoon’s off the charts efficiency as a blitzer created major problems for opponents all season long and his contributions went beyond bringing down the quarterback in the pocket. On 30 pass rushing snaps, he generated 10 pressures to go with a trio of sacks and also swatted three passes, earning a fantastic 22.4 pass rush productivity rating from Pro Football Focus while posting a 33.3 percent pressure rate.

Considering his outstanding numbers as a rookie and how his well-rounded skill set, physicality, and positional flexibility should perfectly fit Macdonald’s scheme, it’s no wonder the young coach seems to be grinning ear to ear every time he watches or talks about the ascending superstar.

“I mean, where do I start?” Macdonald said when asked about what he likes about Witherspoon’s game, specifically referencing his talents in the slot. “Great feel for the game. I mean, just picks things up really quick, but just understands ball and plays at a really, really fast speed. At nickel there is a lot of action in there, and so when guys have that type of skillset you can get them right around the action as much as possible. He’ll do all the things: He’ll blitz, man, zone, play deep in the field, so it’s a fun position to play.”

Just 23 years old, Witherspoon has wasted little time giving a taste of what he may be able to accomplish playing for Macdonald. In Wednesday’s practice, while primarily playing in the slot with cornerbacks Tre Brown and Riq Woolen on the boundary, he made a pair of impressive pass breakups, including showcasing elite closing speed to undercut an out route by teammate Jaxon Smith-Njigba along the sideline to create an incompletion.

Playing with Witherspoon for the first time after signing with the Seahawks in free agency, veteran safety Rayshawn Jenkins has been wowed by what he’s seen from his new teammate thus far at OTAs, specifically citing his elite ball-hawking traits.

“He’s a really talented young player for him to not be the biggest guy. He plays with a lot of heart out there, you can see it even from here. I was just thinking about this today actually, but his breaking on the ball is just elite. It’s some of the best I’ve probably ever seen. I was literally just thinking about it today. I saw him break up two passes and the receiver had a step or two on him and closing speed is crazy. He just gets right to the ball, undercuts the ball. He’s going to make a lot of plays as he has been doing coming off of last season.”

Without tackling or contact being allowed during offseason practices, Witherspoon will have to wait a while before he can dish out the bone-jarring hits he has earned a reputation for dating back to his illustrious college career at Illinois. But he could still be seen rocketing off the edge as a blitzer a few times on Wednesday, something fans should be expecting to see plenty of given Macdonald’s history of sending defensive backs as blitzers.

Last season, for example, Macdonald featured safety Kyle Hamilton as one of his primary pass rushing weapons. The former first-round pick out of Notre Dame generated 16 pressures on 37 blitz attempts, equaling Witherspoon with three sacks and producing two swatted passes along with a 37 percent pressure rate.

Though Witherspoon and Hamilton are far from carbon copies, starting with the fact they offer far different body types, they share many of the same strengths with an aggressive playing style and elite pass rushing ability. It’s no wonder Macdonald appears to have a vision of his newest playmaker staying inside most of the time to play to his strengths and allow him to wreak havoc on Sundays as one of the sport’s ascending young stars.

Since it’s only May, time will tell how Macdonald ultimately deploys his new weapon. But if the start of the offseason program serves as an indicator with Witherspoon flying all over the place making plays, it might be wise to take the over on how much Macdonald will be smiling on the sidelines this fall.

A blind Seattle artist and his guide dog were kicked out of a Seattle restaurant when one of the workers accused the customer of faking his blindness.

Paul Castle, who is legally blind, claimed he entered the unnamed eatery with his service dog, Mr. Maple, but was instantly met by the wary worker.

“I walked in with my guide dog, Mr. Maple, and immediately somebody rushed up to me and said ‘no pets allowed, only service dogs,’” Castle said in a TikTok post on May 7.

“I said ‘It’s ok, he’s a service dog.’” the author said. “He looked at me, he looked at Maple, he said ’emotional support dog?’”

According to WAFB, Castle has less than 10 percent of his vision.

He insisted that Mr. Maple was a “guide dog for the blind” before showing off the pooch’s designated harness to the worker.

Castle told the employee he was blind, but the man wasn’t buying the artist’s story.

“‘You don’t look blind,” the man stated before Castle explained that “a lot of people in the blind community still have some functional vision.”

“You’re looking right at me,” “Yes but it’s like I have a pinhole of vision, it is all I can see.”

Castle described his vision as “sort of like looking through a straw. I have no peripheral vision, the rest of my visual field is full of static.”

“Listen, this isn’t my first rodeo,” the man reportedly said.

Castle offered to return to the establishment with Mr. Maple’s paperwork, but the employee threatened to call the police if they stepped “foot back in this restaurant.”

Castle and his husband Matthew run the “Matthew and Paul” TikTok account, which has garnered over 2.1 million followers, and was created to give viewers an inside look at the lives of blind people while also spreading awareness about blindness.

“I was speechless, I was shaking,” Castle told the outlet. “I was really upset and disappointed.”

“When I encounter a situation like this where I’m fully rejected not only for my dog, but because my own disability wasn’t believed, it makes me really sad on top of all the struggles that I already kind of deal with,” Castle said.

Federal law prohibits private businesses that provide goods or services from discriminating against individuals with disabilities including those that need service animals.

The goal of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act is to ensure that people with disabilities have equal access to goods and services.

The law also disallows businesses from asking for documentation, and animals do not have to wear a vest or harness that indicates they are trained for a specific service.

According to the ADA, To help separate service animals from pets, a business may ask two questions when a person with an animal enters a place of public accommodation:

1. Is the animal required because of a disability?
2. What work or task has the animal been trained to perform?

Castle, who is not taking any legal action, didn’t name the restaurant where he was thrown out, because he doesn’t want them to face backlash.

He says he shared his experience for educational purposes and, after his video went viral, reached out to the restaurant where he talked to the manager who was sincerely apologetic and promised to better train the employees.

With OTAs now opening across the NFL, the Seattle Seahawks will open training camp at the VMAC in a little over two months, officially ushering in the first season under new coach Mike Macdonald.

In preparation for the new incoming season, we’ll be detailing every member of the Seahawks 90-man roster over the next several weeks, diving into scheme fits, exploring best and worst case scenarios, and predicting what to expect from each player entering the 2024 campaign.

Reuniting with former high school teammate Byron Murphy II in Seattle, can Devere Levelston make an impact in a crowded defensive line room?

Levelston started at Tyler Junior College after graduating from DeSoto High School in Texas, where he starred alongside Murphy. He accrued 12.5 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks before transferring to SMU. While at SMU, Levelston started in 26 games but despite playing in 13 games, only three of his 26 starts came in 2023. In his four seasons at the FBS level, Levelston made 90 tackles, including 16.0 for loss and 11 sacks. His highest season of production came in 2021 when Sonny Dykes was the head coach, as made 38 tackles with 10.5 for loss and 6.5 sacks and his production fell off once new coach Rhett Lashlee took over. After a quiet final season with the Mustangs, he signed with the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent.

During his time at SMU, Levelston played all across the defensive line. In 2021, he played 355 snaps at right defensive end and 179 in the interior but still on the right side. However, by 2023, Levelston was mostly on the inside with 324 snaps at 3-tech defensive tackle and only 37 at defensive end. In Mike Macdonald’s defense, he looks to be a defensive end, but will likely need to add some weight to make that happen. He is currently listed at 281 pounds, which is a bit light to play in the trenches in a 3-4 defense. That could be an issue though since he isn’t a great athlete and doesn’t have a great get-off on the ball, attributes that could be even worse with extra mass.

Levelston’s experience playing all across the defensive line and as a stand up rusher could give him a leg up on the competition vying for reps. If he’s able to play at multiple spots and make some plays in preseason games, he could be a practice squad candidate to develop and potentially compete for a roster spot down the road.

Due to Levelston not being the ideal size for the position and lacking preferred athletic traits, it could be a struggle for him to get on the field and show what he can do in a deep depth chart. A textbook tweener, he receives a pink slip early in training camp without getting any preseason snaps in Seattle.

Previously finding success at SMU hunting down quarterbacks, Levelston is an intriguing player with his versatility and size. However, versatility likely won’t help him that much when you consider that he doesn’t have the ideal size to play defensive tackle, where he is currently projected to play for the Seahawks, and tested poorly athletically in most drills at his pro day.

If he can use his length and his 91st percentile broad jump can help him get off the ball and penetrate, Levelston could make enough of an impact in the preseason to warrant a practice squad spot, and it’s possible he could benefit from playing alongside Murphy again to bring out his best on the practice field. However, he first will have to carve out consistent reps in a crowded defensive line group and that will be a tough lineup to crack for an undrafted rookie of his talent level.

Previous 90-Man Roundups

Buddha Jones | Devin Richardson | TaMerik Williams | Rason Williams II | Ro Torrence | Nathan Pickering | Dee Williams