Macdonald remains confident in Seahawks CB Josh Jobe

The Seattle Seahawks’ defense bottled up San Francisco’s high-powered attack for most of Sunday’s NFC West showdown, surrendering just 269 total yards in a turnover-filled 32-29 loss to the 49ers.

The one major exception was cornerback Josh Jobe’s rough afternoon against six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Mike Evans.

Seahawks’ offense laments turnovers, says defense ‘deserved to win’

Evans hauled in seven catches for 113 yards and a touchdown, with most of the damage coming against Jobe. According to Pro Football Focus, the 5-foot-11 Jobe surrendered six catches on eight targets for 98 yards and a TD while covering the 6-foot-5 Evans.

Evans had three catches for 60 yards against Jobe during the 49ers’ go-ahead TD drive in the second half, which he capped by outmuscling Jobe for a 2-point conversion reception that gave San Francisco a 29-26 lead. Evans also beat Jobe on a slant for a 2-yard TD catch in the first quarter.

Asked about Jobe’s struggles against Evans, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald defended the fifth-year cornerback during his weekly conversation with Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Monday morning.

“I know Josh got beat a couple times,” Macdonald said. “We trust Josh to play press man-to-man. I mean, he’s been doing it for two years now and he’s done it at a high level. And when that happens, you’re going to lose one-on-ones.

“As the play caller and the guy designing the defense, should I have given Josh more help in some of those situations? Yeah, I could have. There’s reasons why we called certain things in certain situations. And sometimes I’m right, and sometimes I’m not.

“And when you’re not in the perfect thing on where they want to go with where the ball is intended, then you’re going to end up in some one-on-one matchups. Our guys have won plenty of those over the years, and we’ll continue to put those guys in those situations. We trust our guys.”

Jobe’s 98 yards allowed in coverage on Sunday were the most over his 34 regular-season and postseason games from 2024-26.

Last year, Jobe supplanted Riq Woolen as Seattle’s No. 2 cornerback behind Devon Witherspoon. Jobe finished the season with the ninth-lowest opposing completion percentage (49.5%) and 13th-fewest yards allowed per target (5.7) out of the 83 cornerbacks who logged at least 500 defensive snaps, according to Stathead.

Jobe then re-signed with the Seahawks on a three-year, $24 million deal in March.

“There’s always technique things that you can improve on, especially when you’re in one-on-one, man-to-man situations,” Macdonald said. “But we don’t leave that game with any less trust in Josh and what he can do.”

The CB3 rotation with Pritchett and Diggs

Meanwhile, third cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett came up with his second interception of the season on Sunday, despite playing just four defensive snaps.

Pritchett won Seattle’s CB3 battle out of training camp and played 127 defensive snaps over the first three games. However, he logged just 24 snaps over the past two weeks. That appears largely due to versatile hybrid defender Nick Emmanwori’s return to an every-down role following July ankle surgery, along with the run-heavy nature of the Seahawks’ past two opponents.

Macdonald has often stressed he wants to get the best players on the field, which means players are competing for snaps not only within their respective position groups, but with players at other positions too.

“One of the things I love about our group is everybody is OK with competition,” Macdonald said. “Everything’s up for grabs on how we play guys, how much guys play, who gets what ops. That happens within games and it happens from week to week on who gets all the opportunities and who’s out there for how long.”

Former two-time Pro Bowler Trevon Diggs also has inserted himself into the cornerback mix. Diggs, who is looking to resurrect his career after several major knee injuries, played nine defensive snaps in his season debut last week and eight snaps on Sunday after being signed off the practice squad to the 53-man roster.

“He’s right in it,” Macdonald said. “He’s right in on how we deploy our people. … We’re going to put the best combination of guys out there. What’s best for us is how we operate.”

Mike Macdonald joins Brock and Salk on the day after Seahawks games at 9:30 a.m. for The Mike Macdonald Show. Listen to the full conversation at this link or watch the video at the top of this story. Tune into Brock and Salk weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

Seattle Seahawks news and more

• Brock: The problem facing Seattle Seahawks’ run game is clear
• Stacy Rost: Why this 3-2 start by Seattle Seahawks feels different
• NFL replay VP explains ruling on Seahawks’ final offensive play

Related

Broncos, who play Seahawks next, riding defense while offense remains shakyNFL suspends 49ers’ Greenlaw for head-butting Seahawks’ JonesBrock: The problem facing Seahawks’ run game is clearSeahawks’ offense laments turnovers, says defense ‘deserved to win’NFL replay VP explains ruling on Seahawks’ final offensive playBrock: Seahawks are ‘not playing complementary ball’