Head Coach Mike Macdonald Gives Final Updates Ahead Of Week 9 vs. Cardinals

Mike Macdonald (0:01)

All right, all right, we got a few.

Charles is going to be out, we know Sam is out. Quenton, Quenton's going to be out. He has a, we're going to get to a minor procedure. It should be, he's week to week at this point. We're not going to put him on IR. So we'll go from there. But there's a timeline right now that warrants not IR. So that's what we're going to do. Quenton will be out. Connor O'Toole is questionable. Brandon Pili will be out. Rashid Shaheed will be out. And Leo will be out.

So here's your update.

SPEAKER_2 (0:43)

What happened with the question?

Mike Macdonald (0:46)

In short, he had something that he was dealing with when he got here. And we re-imaged it and it was aggravated to some degree. So, you know, we've kind of done the due diligence and everybody agrees it's the best to take care of it now and play the long game. So he'll be week to week at this point.

SPEAKER_3 (1:08)

So it's a knee procedure? Yep.

SPEAKER_4 (1:11)

So who will start it, I guess, at the guard spots?

Mike Macdonald (1:13)

Yeah, so we're, yeah, so actually the grand plan was to really just try to shake everything up because we felt like we were too comfortable and so AB will go back to right guard and Grey will go back to left guard.

SPEAKER_2 (1:27)

Were you guys aware of the knee issue with Quenton when you made the deal?

Mike Macdonald (1:33)

I can't give you like all the details on what it was and what we, you know, obviously past the physical. So, you know, I think, I think two things are true. One, that it was something that he was dealing with coming out of the, whatever game he was playing before the trade. And I think it's been aggravated since he got here.

SPEAKER_2 (1:56)

Drew, okay to go?

Mike Macdonald (1:58)

Drew's gonna start, yep.

SPEAKER_4 (1:59)

How did he do this week with Dale Will?

Mike Macdonald (2:03)

He's done a great job. And Jalen Milroe's done a great job as well. So it's been a tag team effort to get ready. And I thought both guys have loved their attitude, the details, all those things. They're in a good spot, so.

But Drew's gonna start the game.

SPEAKER_2 (2:20)

Is there any new talk of IR for any of the guys you mentioned, like Leonard or Rashid or those guys?

Mike Macdonald (2:27)

Not to my knowledge, no, no.

SPEAKER_4 (2:30)

With Leonard, I guess you sounded like he had a test to play on Tuesday or did anything change with Leonard?

Mike Macdonald (2:36)

Just didn't get better. All these guys, they just couldn't, nothing, you know, it's just the way it goes. They just didn't improve.

SPEAKER_3 (2:47)

How much is the short week a factor here or do you think a normal week they wouldn't have played either?

Mike Macdonald (2:54)

It might be a factor. It still have to make speculation, I guess.

SPEAKER_2 (3:01)

Generally, what kind of progress has Charles made in the two seasons?

Mike Macdonald (3:05)

Good, good. Charles and these guys have just got to get over those hurdles so you can get out there and practice.

He's working his tail off. All these guys are working hard, just haven't been able to make it to the game.

SPEAKER_3 (3:18)

Drew Lock, how much have you had to govern his throwing this week?

Mike Macdonald (3:23)

We've had to manage it. More precautionary than anything else, so without getting into all the specifics, but it's something that we've had to manage.

SPEAKER_2 (3:34)

Are you still have some of those constraints on Jadarian and Zach going this week?

Mike Macdonald (3:40)

There are some parameters that we're working with for who it is and to what extent. Probably not tell everybody on that one.

SPEAKER_4 (3:52)

With Zach in particular, though, can you just feel week to week?

Mike Macdonald (3:56)

Yeah, exactly. Again, we've had some moving pieces on offense here for the X amount of weeks now, but as it starts to calm down and guys get more reps and more chemistry, I think that will pay dividends for us.

SPEAKER_4 (4:15)

What kind of work has Sam been able to do this week?

Mike Macdonald (4:17)

He's just working in rehab and go through that process.

So he's kind of like a coach on the field right now. So I've probably talked to him the most during practice I've ever had because normally he's taking all the plays. So it's been fun.

SPEAKER_2 (4:34)

When you have the guard kind of switching stuff, was there any conversation about, well, do we keep Grey and let him keep working it right?