Heavyweight NFC contenders hosting Seahawks for preseason joint practices

Second-year Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald told the media earlier this offseason that he'd like to get in some joint practices this year after having a positive experience last August working with the Tennessee Titans. Today Macdonald got at least a part of that wish fulfilled.

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

Needless to say, Green Bay is a pretty solid opponent heading into the 2025 season. The Packers finished with a record of 11-6 last season despite sharing the NFC North with two other very tough conference contenders - Minnesota went 14-3 with Sam Darnold leading the way, while the Detroit Lions went 15-2 before their rash of injuries finally caught up with them in the playoffs.

One of Green Bay's 11 wins came in Seattle on Sunday Night Football this past season, which may have been the most humiliating moment of the Seahawks' 2025 campaign.

The Packers won by a score of 30-13, which makes it seem like the game was much closer than it actually was. Jordan Love threw a near-perfect game, totaling 229 yards, two touchdowns, no picks and a 123.8 passer rating as he went virtually untouched in the pocket. On the ground the Seahawks were able to hold Josh Jacobs to just 3.6 yards per carry - but they couldn't stop him from scoring a critical touchdown. The worst damage was done by Romeo Doubs, smoked Riq Woolen for two touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Geno Smith struggled to get anything going despite completing 15 of 19 passes, totaling just 149 yards and zero touchdowns. He only took three sacks but was under constant duress, also taking 12 quarterback hits from a loaded Packers front seven, which completely overwhelmed Seattle at the line of scrimmage.

Zach Charbonnet (54 yards and one TD on eight carries) and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (83 yards on 10 catches) had pretty good games for the Seahawks, but that was about it.

Whether this was the straw that broke the camel's back or not we'll never know - but the Seahawks have since pulled off a pretty dramatic restructuring of their passing personnel. Time will tell if it will actually be any better than the group they put out there last year.