RENTON, Wash. - Rolling into year one of the Mike Macdonald era, few Seattle Seahawks players garnered more positive excitement about playing in the defensive guru's renowned scheme than versatile defender Dre'Mont Jones.
Primarily playing inside for most of his first season in Seattle, Jones cut his weight into the mid-260s during the offseason to make the transition to playing outside linebacker full-time. Upon his arrival for mandatory minicamp in June, he looked like a man on a mission, primed for a breakout season in a scheme that would better accentuate his strengths while starring on a fortified defensive line now including Byron Murphy II and Johnathan Hankins.
However, Jones suffered a hamstring strain in the Seahawks third training camp practice, and he wound up missing the remainder of camp, which may have contributed to a slower start than anticipated. Through the team's first six games, though he had produced 17 quarterback pressures, he only had two sacks and three tackles for loss, failing to make the type of game-changing impact expected from one of the team's highest-paid players.
But with Murphy back in the lineup after missing three games with a hamstring injury of his own and Roy Robertson-Harris making his team debut coming to town from Jacksonville to bolster the trenches, Jones finally came to life in Atlanta on Sunday. Taking over for the Seahawks up front with a dominant performance in a 34-14 win over the Falcons, Macdonald has seen the veteran's confidence grow in recent weeks as he has found his footing in a new scheme and role.
"This past game I thought was his best game, at least this year, speaking for this year since we've been together," Macdonald said of Jones on Monday. "Played with great energy, and really took over the one series I thought where he had the TFL [tackle for loss] or the batted pass and then I think he was in on a sack. Just excited for him and his progress. It seems like he has some confidence and is more on the edge in what we're asking him to do and I expect him to still improve as we go."
With Seattle leading by 10 points at halftime, Jones came out playing with his hair on fire in the third quarter. On the opening possession, keeping his outside shoulder free while getting his arms locked out and extended against tight end Kyle Pitts, he held the edge and corralled star running back Bijan Robinson for a one-yard loss as he tried to bounce the run outside, one of the four rushing plays on that drive limited to zero or negative yardage.
Later in the quarter, as Macdonald acknowledged in his comments on Monday, Jones became a one-man wrecking crew once the Falcons found themselves in catchup mode behind 24-14 and transitioned to a pass-heavy attack. With Kirk Cousins rolling out on a play action bootleg, he sniffed him out after dispelling a chip block by Pitts, swatting the ball down as the quarterback released it and delivering a hit afterward. On the ensuing snap, with coverage locking down on receivers downfield, he looped back inside behind Williams and collapsed in on Cousins for a sack.
Jones would later add a fourth quarterback hit in the final quarter and contributed to the pressure that led to a pair of interceptions thrown by Cousins that landed in the hands of safeties Julian Love and Coby Bryant, making his presence felt both as a pass rusher and a run defender in his finest all-around performance of the season by a wide margin.
Looking at Jones' season holistically, Macdonald admitted injuries to other players such as Murphy and Leonard Williams made his adjustment to the scheme a "team process," as those players being unavailable forced the Seahawks to move him back inside out of necessity in a loss to the Lions last month. They had to momentarily abandon their initial plans for him, and coupling that with the time missed in camp, he wasn't able to get up to speed as swiftly as everyone wanted.
To his credit, Macdonald felt Jones played well under difficult circumstances, including sacking Jared Goff in the fourth quarter in Detroit. But such modifications complicated matters trying to acclimate him to the system how the staff envisioned.
Now that Seattle has returned to full strength up front and further fortified the group with Robertson-Harris' arrival, Macdonald thinks Jones has started to find his groove attacking his new role, playing more free with great energy and handling his responsibilities as expected in the scheme while being complemented by a deep, versatile unit. And, in the event injuries strike again, that prior experience should serve the team well if he has to play inside again at some point.
The best part? Only seven games in, Jones is far from a finished product with room for further improvement as he continues to sharpen his craft and gain confidence. After breaking out in Atlanta, his best football should still be well out in front of him, providing the opportunity for him to play up to his lucrative contract and emerge as the difference maker the Seahawks thought he would become when they courted him as a prized free agent.
