GREEN BAY, Wis. — Prior to the 2025 NFL draft, scouts across the league had remarkably differing opinions on quarterback Jalen Milroe.
“He has the highest ceiling because of the athlete and how fast he is,” one scout said.
A second completely disagreed, saying: “He just has no feel for the game. He can’t throw. Not accurate at all. What are you doing?”
And a third scout opined: “He’s a rare athlete, and in the right system and with the right coaching staff, who knows what they can get out of him?”
All three of those men could put in the tape from Seattle’s 20-7 preseason loss at Green Bay Saturday and feel correct about their opinions.
Milroe, the Seahawks’ third-round draft pick in April, had moments where he looked the part of an NFL quarterback. Overall, though, the bad outweighed the good.
Milroe lost three fumbles, which led to 10 Green Bay points and helped the Packers win the turnover battle, 4-1.
Seattle ended the preseason 1-1-1, while the Packers improved to 2-1.
“All on me,” Milroe said of the turnovers. “Every one turnover from the quarterback position you have to build on. You have to take care of the football. All of those are on me.
“I have to be better with ball security. You know it is tough in the trenches. They are going to swat at the ball. Some big, strong dudes. They are heavier than me. You have to protect the ball. It happens.”
It happened far too often in this game, though.
Green Bay played the majority of its starters on defense the first series. The Packers then played reserves the rest of the day, while Seattle played its backups from start to finish.
No matter who was on the field, though, Milroe broke the cardinal rule of quarterbacking: protect the football at all costs.
“I am going to learn from that,” Milroe said.
Milroe took every snap and had some impressive moments.
The highlight was an 18-yard touchdown pass to wideout Cody White in the fourth quarter. Milroe also showed off his arm talent with a 27-yard dart to wideout Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and displayed his 4.37-second speed in the 40-yard dash with a 15-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Milroe finished the day 13-of-24 for 148 yards, and added 31 rushing yards on seven carries (4.4). But he took five sacks in addition to turning the ball over three times, which killed drive after drive.
“What’s great about it is he didn’t flinch,” Seattle coach Mike Macdonald said of Milroe. “He had a couple of setbacks earlier and he kept fighting. He kept working away at it. Up to the very end we had a chance to get back into the game and give ourselves a chance to win it.
“We’re fighting an uphill battle the whole game, which is not how we want to play. Sometimes things aren’t going to go your way and you’ve got to fight through it.”
Milroe certainly isn’t in danger of missing the cut when Seattle general manager John Schneider sets his 53-man roster Tuesday. The Seahawks are expected to keep three quarterbacks, with Sam Darnold starting, Drew Lock at No. 2 and Milroe developing behind the two veterans.
“He’s a talented guy, really fast,” Green Bay linebacker Edgerrin Cooper said of Milroe. “He’s a great athlete.”
Milroe’s inability to protect the ball on Saturday was a killer for Seattle, though.
On the first fumble, which came late in the first quarter, Green Bay blitzed linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper up the middle forcing Milroe to hold the ball longer than he hoped. That allowed Brenton Cox to come off the edge, beat tackle Michael Jerrell and force a strip sack of Milroe that was recovered by end Kingsley Enagbare.
That turnover set up a Green Bay field goal that gave the Packers a 10-0 lead.
On Seattle’s next possession, Milroe ran up the middle for 3 yards on fourth-and-1 Green Bay’s Hopper stripped the ball from Milroe, though, and Packers cornerback Kalen King recovered.
Eight plays later, the Packers were in the end zone, pushing their lead to 17-0.
The Seahawks had a fourth down at Green Bay’s 4-yard line midway through the second quarter. But Milroe’s pass was batted down by defensive end Deslin Alexandre.
Hopper later sacked Milroe for a 3-yard loss on a fourth-and-2 after Seattle drove to Green Bay’s 29-yard line.
And with the Seahawks driving in the final 2 minutes, Milroe couldn’t handle a shotgun snap and Green Bay’s Arron Mosby recovered.
While the results weren’t what Milroe hoped for, he left historic Lambeau Field optimistic about what awaits.
“It was just a good opportunity and it was a lot of fun to be out there, to be able to compete,” Milroe said. “So now it is all about building upon today as an offense and just keep on going.
“No matter good, bad, or ugly, keep on going. Keep fighting. Keep being starving. Have an optimistic mindset as you approach the field despite anything.”
There were a handful of highlights for the Seahawks, including:
• Wideout Cody White, battling for a roster spot, was integral on the Seahawks’ lone touchdown drive.
White got things started with an electric 35-yard punt return, and one play later had a 25-yard reception from Milroe. White then beat cornerback Corey Ballentine for an 18-yard touchdown reception.
“I told him in golf when you play a scramble and you get your own eagle, that’s what he had on that drive,” Macdonald said of White. “Give him the opportunity and he makes plays. I’m happy for him. We’ve talked about it for two years now. The guy worked extremely hard. He earned that today. That was really cool.”
White finished the game with three catches for 69 yards.
• Seattle safety Ty Okada made a diving interception of Packers’ No. 2 quarterback Malik Willis on the Green Bay’s opening drive.
“That was a heck of a play,” Macdonald said. “That was awesome.”
• Jacardia Wright, fighting for the No. 3 running back job, ripped off a 61-yard second quarter run to Green Bay’s 4-yard line.
• Seattle, which had 54 sacks last year, had four against the Packers. Linebacker Jamie Sheriff, nose tackle J.R. Singleton, and safety D’Anthony Bell all had sacks, while linebackers Jared Ivey and Alphonzo Tuputala shared a sack.
• The Seahawks also seemed to dodge a bullet when wide receiver/punt returner Jake Bobo and cornerback Tyler Hall collided on a Green Bay punt. Both players stayed down several minutes, but Bobo eventually jogged to the locker room, while Hall limped off with the help of teammates.
Afterwards, McDonald said Bobo had a concussion and Hall has a knee injury.
“Jake has a concussion,” Macdonald said. “Considering what it looked like, I think we’re fortunate that’s what we’re dealing with. That was scary.
“(Hall) has got a knee (injury). We don’t think it’s that serious. We think structurally it’s OK. So we’ll image it and we’ll get all the information. Right now the signs are positive long term with Tyler.”
Macdonald also said guard Christian Haynes suffered a pectoral injury in Thursday’s joint practice with Green Bay.