Mike Macdonald is leaving the Seahawks because his wife is having a baby – and sending Laviska Shenault away

The day after the Seahawks’ last win brought two verifiable truths about their rookie coach.

Mike Macdonald doesn’t dwell on ineptitude.

Mike Macdonald will be busier and more tired this week than ever in his 37 years.

The NFL’s youngest head coach wasted no time Monday in righting the biggest of many mistakes that the Seahawks overcame the previous day to beat the New York Jets. He waived Laviska Shenault after the primary kickoff returner botched two returns in the first half on Sunday.

The Seahawks fumbled kickoff returns three times in the game; The other came from rookie Dee Williams, Seattle’s second of two deep men back on kickoffs. Those gaffes gave New York two of its three touchdowns and put the Seahawks in a 21-7 hole in the second quarter.

Seattle picked up the final 19 points with its third straight win. The Seahawks (7-5) remain first in the NFC West and enter their return game with the second-place Arizona Cardinals (6-6) in the desert on Sunday (1:05 ​​p.m., Channel 7).

Seattle’s latest “don’t perform you’re going” move came the day Shenault, signed as a free agent before this season, was one of just two Seahawks in the top 10 at his position in the early pro The league’s bowl voting was fans.

Apparently most of that vote counting took place before Sunday’s game.

Associate head coach Leslie Frazier said Monday “we’re working on” who will replace Shenault and perhaps Williams, who return kickoffs in Arizona.

“We will have a better idea in the next 24 to 48 hours,” Frazier said.

Why did Frazier speak in Macdonald’s place during the weekly press conference the day after?

Macdonald was with his wife Stephanie. Apparently the contractions had already started on Monday. Mom and dad are expecting their first baby at any time.

Film study will be a whole new challenge for the first head coach before the Cardinals game.

“Mike and Stephanie are really excited about what they’re experiencing,” said Frazier, 65, the former head coach of the Minnesota Vikings. “My wife (Gale) and I, we have three children. So I remember those days. So I’m really happy for him.

“But for me, Mike laid a great foundation. It’s just a matter of getting out of the way and letting the coaches do what they do and letting the players do what they do. We have good infrastructure and that should bode well for us going forward.”

Mike Macdonald’s return?

When asked if he had any idea when Macdonald would return to the team or if there was a chance Frazier could lead the Seahawks to Arizona this weekend, Macdonald sounded like a mentor from his time with the Baltimore Ravens in 2016 experienced father that he is.

“I don’t know how many of you are parents who are on the call, but when you get that call and you’re told you’re close, that can mean a lot,” Frazier said. “It’s such an unknown at the moment. So we play it year by year and just see what happens day by day. But it could already be (Monday evening). We could get the news (Monday evening) that the baby is here. It could be tomorrow. Could even be in two or three days. But we will be on our guard.

“We just pray that everything goes well and look forward to the good news. And we will adapt if necessary.”

Seahawks special teams issues

Before leaving for duty as a new father, Macdonald expressed his displeasure with Shenault and Williams’ opening errors that nearly cost the Seahawks Sunday’s game and first place.

The coach called his special teams performance against the Jets a “comedy.”

A dark one.

“We definitely need to protect the ball better in the shooting game,” said Macdonald. “So, we’ll definitely check into that.”

The Seahawks also allowed Jets practice squad player Kene Nwangwu to recover one of Jason Myers’ kickoffs with three failed tackle attempts for New York’s second touchdown of the first half. That was just before Shenault lost the ball on a kickoff return, giving the Jets a third touchdown.

New York’s Xavier Gipson returned the next Myers kickoff 45 yards to midfield.

“Yeah, it seemed like every single part was just some kind of comedy. I’m talking about our kickoff, right?” Macdonald said, having to clarify which of the many special teams mishaps he was referring to. “Yes, a couple of tackles missed here and there were communication problems with another.

“We need to look at this and make sure we are on the same page and moving in the right direction.”

Former Seahawk DeeJay Dallas, whom Seattle released before this season, had a 35-yard kickoff return for Arizona against the Seahawks two games ago.

The inside blockers on Seattle’s field goal unit allowed the Jets to block one of Myers’ extra point attempts on Sunday.

Additionally, Michael Dickson failed to field a punt in the fourth quarter on Seattle’s special teams in New York. Back spasms took him out of the game.

That’s why Macdonald let Geno Smith and the offense go all out on fourth-and-six from their own 33-point deficit with 9 1/2 minutes left, 21-19. The 3-9 Jets, then defeated by the Jets, called a too many men on the field penalty and then a 20-yard pass interference penalty on the ensuing fourth-and-1 play to extend the Seahawks’ drive . This was followed by Zach Charbonnet’s 8-yard run for the go-ahead score and finally the winning touchdown.

Macdonald joked after the game that the team gave Dickson a game ball because he was unavailable because it resulted in the drive being extended and the points won.

Frazier said Jay Harbaugh, the 35-year-old Seahawks special teams coach Macdonald hired from the University of Michigan in February, could have a week almost as busy as Macdonald’s attempt to get everything in order New York went wrong.

OK, not Almost as busy as the new dad’s week.

“Yes, we certainly had some challenging moments this season,” Frazier said of special teams.

“(Sunday) was definitely challenging in a lot of ways. You don’t want a kickoff returned for a touchdown. You don’t want to see blocked field goals or extra points. That always gets under your skin, especially when you throw the ball on the ground.

“We need to sort out some things so we can get to where we want to be as a team. And I know Jay Harbaugh and our players are working extremely hard on that. But we certainly had some challenges.”