The Seattle Seahawks didn’t put a heavy load on rookie running back Jadarian Price in the 13-10 Week 1 win over the New England Patriots. In his NFL debut, Price had 10 carries for 52 rushing yards.
Moreover, he flashed his potential, as two of his 10 carries gained 10 or more yards, with his longest run for 13 yards against the Patriots‘ run defense. Price also averaged 5.2 yards per carry and recorded a PFF run grade of 67.5.
Despite not putting too much on Price’s plate, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald was happy with what he saw and gave a one-word description to sum up the running back’s Week 1 performance.
“Decisive,” Macdonald said during a Sept. 11 appearance on Seattle Sports. “I thought he ran the ball really well. Maybe there are a couple of plays that I’m thinking where we can talk about maybe improving a little bit situationally, but I thought he had a really good start and I’m excited about him.
“He should be proud of himself going in there with no preseason reps and taking care of the football, staying square, and making decisive cuts. I thought that was really cool.”
Price will be looking to carry this momentum into Week 2 against the Arizona Cardinals. Furthermore, the NFC West opponent might be the ideal time to crank up his carry total to see if Price can handle a bigger workload.
Marcus Freeman on Expectations for Jadarian Price
Furthermore, don’t expect Price to be content with 10 carries in a game. Recently, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman explained what he expects to see from the Seahawks rookie and shed light on the mindset that leads many to believe the best is yet to come.
“I remember having a conversation with him after the season saying, ‘Hey, you can come back here and be RB1, get all these carries and show the NFL what you do with the opportunity to be RB1,'” Freeman said during an Aug. 31 appearance.
“Obviously, he went to the NFL and still became a first-round draft pick. So now it’s going to be interesting to see him do it at that level. I’m as confident in him because of the way he works. Jadarian Price is a team-first guy, but will work tirelessly to be the best version of himself.”
Mike Macdonald Praises Seahawks’ Week 1 Performance
After the game against the Patriots, Macdonald praised the entire team, even though they didn’t perform well in the first half and took 10 penalties for 98 yards.
“I actually think I want to give our team a lot of credit because things weren’t really going our way going into the half,” Macdonald told reporters on Sept. 9. “We didn’t panic; we still liked our plan [and] we didn’t need to change what we were doing or anything like that. We just wanted to stick to what we were doing.
“I think the guys were just really excited to go back out there and play, which was really a tribute to our leadership, our coaches, our communications, the staff. So I was pleased with that process.”
Seahawks’ Jadarian Price Gets One-Word Verdict on NFL Debut