The Seattle Seahawks are going into the new season with Sam Darnold as their starting quarterback. The coach dismisses doubts with a smug smile.

The offseason is a wild time in the NFL. That’s because the media only has public training sessions to get an idea of the condition and form of the team and the players.

This week, Sam Darnold seemed to be a little shaky, raising questions among journalists covering the Seattle Seahawks.

Head coach Mike Macdonald was therefore asked by “Seattle Sports 710 AM” whether, apart from injury, there was a scenario in which Darnold would not be the starter in Week 1.

Macdonald: “That’s a crazy question.”

For Macdonald, it was a completely surprising question. “No, you guys are crazy,” he said. “I respect that you have to ask the question, but that’s just a crazy question. That’s not going to happen. Sam is our starting quarterback. We love him. He’s doing a great job.”

Macdonald admitted that Darnold had made mistakes, but also emphasized that the signal caller was not letting that bother him. And then the coach couldn’t resist a smug dig at all the fuss surrounding the meaningless offseason practices.

“God forbid you’re considered the worst player in history just because you made a bad throw or a wrong decision,” Macdonald said.

That’s not what we want to build, Macdonald continued: “We want the guys to prepare conscientiously and then just go out there and give it their all, and then we’ll correct the mistakes. We have time. They’ll get plenty of repetitions. We’ll get it all sorted out,” he emphasized.

And he added, just to be on the safe side: “That was a pretty crazy question.”

Darnold was signed by the Seahawks in free agency and given a three-year contract worth $100.5 million. The previous starter, Geno Smith, had left the team for the Las Vegas Raiders.