Run-defending linebackers wanted, gained: Seahawks trade for Ernest Jones IV
Jerome Baker didn’t defend the run well enough to Mike Macdonald’s demands.
So Baker gets the same deal as fellow linebacker Darrell Taylor: a trade out of Seattle.
The Seahawks with new coach Macdonald, their defensive architect, traded Baker plus a fourth-round draft choice to the Tennessee Titans to get inside linebacker Ernest Jones IV.
The 24-year-old Jones arrives to do what Baker and Seattle’s defense hasn’t done nearly enough at the second, linebacker level of Macdonald’s defense: Jones is here to stop the run.
He was the Los Angeles Rams’ middle linebacker for three seasons before he joined the Titans before this season.
The 6-foot-2, 233-pound Jones is here to become the Seahawks’ new starting middle linebacker, Macdonald said Wednesday. Tyrel Dodson, who had been the middle linebacker, now replaces the 6-2, 232-pound Baker as the Seahawks’ starting inside, weakside linebacker next Jones in Macdonald’s 3-4 scheme.
“He’s a guy that I think when you look at kind of all fronts coming from John (Schneider, Seattle’s general manager) and our personnel people, our coaches, our experience with them, a guy we’ve had respect for for a long time, just is a really good football player all the way around,” Macdonald said. “I remember seeing him play in the Super Bowl (the Rams’ win over the Bengals in Super Bowl 56 in February 2022). (That) is probably the first time he got on my map.
“Just excited to get him here and get him rolling. By all accounts, a great person. Loves ball. Tough as nails.”
The coach said the Rams’ 3-4 defense’s pass coverage Jones played in Los Angeles mirrors what Seattle does for a middle linebacker.
“He’s got more sand in his pants...He just looks like he’d be more physical,” former NFL quarterback and University of Washington quarterback Hugh Millen told The News Tribune on KJR-FM radio Wednesday morning, comparing Jones to Baker.
The Seahawks need more “tough as nails” linebackers with “more sand in his pants” in the middle of their defense.
Seattle allowed the Lions 116 yards rushing, the Giants 175 yards and the 49ers’ backup runners 228 yards during the Seahawks’ three-game losing streak that ended last weekend. Even Atlanta, in losing Sunday, rushed for 155 yards against Seattle.
Macdonald said Jones’ Seahawks debut will be Sunday against AFC East-leading Buffalo (5-2), and at middle linebacker.
Macdonald said Dodson’s extensive experience at weakside linebacker in his previous seasons with the Bills before he signed with Seattle makes for a smooth transition of him from middle, “Mike” linebacker to weakside, “Will” backer this week. The coach said the team had a discussion with Dodson upon him signing this spring whether he’d play weakside or middle linebacker.
The Bills average 116 yards rushing per game, tied for 19th in the NFL.
Baker’s time in Seattle was sputtering. He missed offseason workouts following wrist surgery that ended his time playing for the Dolphins at the end of the 2023 season. Baker visited the Titans before he signed a one-year free-agent contract with the Seahawks for up to $7 million.
Jones is on a one-year contract he signed with Tennessee in late August. The Seahawks inherit a prorated portion, 11 weeks, of Jones’ $3,116,000 salary they are inheriting from the Titans.
He and Dodson in the middle of Seattle’s remade linebacking unit are ultra-familiar with this week’s opponent. Jones just played the Bills last week outside Buffalo. The Titans held the Bills to 74 yards rushing on 20 carries but lost 34-10.
Dodson played his first four NFL seasons for the Bills. Buffalo signed him as a rookie free agent in 2020.
Abe Lucas returns to practice
The Seahawks designated to return to practice starting right tackle Abe Lucas off the physically-unable-to-perform list and backup tackle George Fant off injured reserve.
Lucas has a 21-day window to practice before he has to either play or go on injured reserve for the rest of this season.
Macdonald saw Lucas in the locker room Wednesday morning getting ready for his first practice since January then winter knee surgery and joked with the third-year veteran from Washington State: “These are shoulder pads.”
Macdonald reiterated it will be weeks before Lucas is ready to play. He said the Seahawks are targeting Lucas’ first game to be at San Francisco in mid-November, following Seattle’s bye week.
This story was originally published October 23, 2024 at 11:31 AM.
