Tyler Lockett on how Seahawks defense tripped up offense in first padded practice

The Seattle Seahawks held their first padded practice of training camp yesterday. While the offense had their moments - including a spectacular diving touchdown catch by number four wide receiver Jake Bobo - according to all accounts the defense won the day .

After practice was over, veteran wide receiver Tyler Lockett explained how the defense got the best of them. Apparently they did a great job of mixing up their coverages and blitzes, keeping Ryan Grubb's offense off-balance, per Mike Dugar at The Athletic .

“The defense did a great job today... We were able to include all of our installs up to this point today, and I think the defense showed a lot of variety in their coverages and the blitzes. We gotta just continue to communicate to pick those things up. But I think the defense got after us a little bit today.”

This should come as music to the ears of Seattle fans who grew tired of seeing the defense underperform year after year under former head coach Pete Carroll.

While Carroll deserves a ton of credit for building up the organization's culture and keeping the team competitive as long as he did, in some ways the game had simply passed him by. His refusal to change with the times defensively by not disguising coverages qualifies as malpractice at this point. That's one of many things that will change in 2024.

It might hurt but the truth is the Seahawks were right to move on from Carroll and find a new head coach who has embraced the latest defensive trends in the sport, and Mike Macdonald is on the cutting edge when it comes to that department. Expect the same dynamic to play out on the other side of the ball with Grubb taking over in place of Shane Waldron.