Designers Mike Macdonald and Ryan Grubb show why the Seahawks train together in Tennessee

Ryan Grubb called more plays that carried the ball further down the field.

Mike Macdonald used more of the defensive strategies he is known for to confuse the offense. He had his players move around more. On one snap, the coach even had star rookie defensive tackle Byron Murphy move to the middle of the field to cover passes.

Why Macdonald and his Seahawks traveled the 3,200-kilometer route to Nashville for a joint training session against the Tennessee Titans – Seattle's first joint training session since 1991 – could be seen on Wednesday at the Saint Thomas Sports Park.

The NFL's youngest head coach can have his core offensive and defensive players play much more from the playbook against core players from other teams, but in a closed practice rather than a preseason game that is televised for the entire league to watch, archive and study.

The practices here on Wednesday and Thursday will be the most extensive work for quarterback Geno Smith, wide receiver DK Metcalf, the still-transforming offensive line and Macdonald's defense to implement Grubb and Macdonald's new game strategies before the season begins on Sept. 8 against Denver.

After the two-hour, 15-minute practice and scrimmages in 90-degree heat and 55 percent humidity, the News Tribune asked Macdonald how much of his playbook he uses in closed-door practices compared to what he used in the season opener against the Chargers last weekend and what he will use here Saturday in the preseason game against the Titans.

“I think it’s much more than anyone would want to give,” he said.

“Some of the stuff you're showing is a balance of thinking, 'Hey, this is our best stuff right now. Let's see how it looks.' It's just things we want to – not 'experiment' with – but let's see how it looks. We may not have as many reps as we want against someone whose movements, transitions and plays we're not used to.

“Let’s see how it works.”

When Macdonald switched up his defense on Wednesday at and even after the snap – a staple of what made his defense with the Baltimore Ravens the best in the league last season – his Seahawks were often more confused than the Titans. Seattle's players missed assignments. They didn't cover exactly the gap or area their defensive innovator required.

“If we're going to make it a little more fancy, we'll have to work out a few details,” Macdonald said. “The guys know what I'm talking about.”

“We’ll see. But we still have some room for improvement.”

You still have 3 1/2 weeks before the games really start.

That's why they are here this week.

So Smith threw long passes down the field to Metcalf and Jake Bobo, even though the Titans' defensive backs were expecting it. Former Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs stayed behind most of the practice, knowing that Metcalf and Bobo mostly threw long passes.

Smith says Grubb, Seattle's new offensive coordinator who has been calling University of Washington quarterback Michael Penix's plays for two impressive years, runs his plays at a moderate pace.

“I think we're going through our installations right now,” Smith said. “Grubb has a plan for how he wants to install games. We want to make sure we're good at our base games and good at the things we're working on before we try to move on and install more.”

“We just keep going week by week, day by day, something like that.”

Devon Witherspoon, Speed ​​Camera

At the start of practice, Devon Witherspoon was close to Titans wide receiver Kearis Jackson. The Seahawks Pro Bowl cornerback was flagged for holding by NFL officials overseeing the one-on-one pass coverage drill.

Witherspoon returned to playing primarily as an interior nickelback, as he has done for most of training camp, leaving Tre Brown at left cornerback and Riq Woolen at right cornerback.

At the end of practice, Macdonald had Witherspoon bombard Titans quarterback Will Levis from all angles of the defense, inside and outside. It was another example of the expanded playbook Macdonald showed Wednesday, something he didn't do last weekend and won't do this weekend in Seattle's preseason games.

The head coach was cautious when asked about Witherspoon's blitz after practice on Wednesday.

“Well, I have to blitz him,” said Macdonald, “or he'll complain all through practice.”

The offense has problems…

…especially Tennessee’s two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons.

Simmons spent nearly as much time in the Seahawks' backfield as Smith during Wednesday's 11-on-11 game, dominating the middle of Seattle's O-line, which again started with Laken Tomlinson at left guard, Olu Oluwatimi at center and Anthony Bradford at right guard.

Smith would have been sacked by Simmons at least three times if the defenders had been allowed to hit the quarterbacks. Some of Smith's longest throws, including to Bobo, came as the free-rushing Simmons yelled to blow the whistle.

Oluwatimi will hold the center spot until Connor Williams practices for Seattle for the first time. The free agent, who signed last week from Miami, where he played center for the past two years, could practice next week or the last week of August, Macdonald said. Williams, 27, suffered a torn ACL and had reconstructive knee surgery eight months ago. He has been a regular in the league for six years.

On Wednesday, Williams again watched, without equipment, as his new teammates performed linesman drills and drills at the start of practice.

Cody White impresses

It was another strong day for Cody White. The fifth-year NFL veteran, who has appeared in seven games in other leagues during his career, raced past Titans cornerback Gabe Jeudy-Lally in one-on-one pass coverage drills and threw a long touchdown from Smith.

White and Easop Winston, who caught a touchdown pass from Sam Howell on the last play of the day with a sharp route through the back of the end zone, could vacate the spot on the team over the substitute and currently injured Dee Eskridge.

Eskridge did not practice for the second day in a row.

The team could hope that White and Winston will be cleared by the league so they can be added to the practice squad after final preseason cuts on August 27.

Laviska Shenault appears to be on track to earn a spot at wide receiver behind Metcalf, Lockett, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Bobo due to Shenault's ability to return kickoffs and break tackles.

Extra points

* Wide receiver Tyler Lockett wore the uniform but did not participate in the practice game. The 10-year veteran has been limited for about a week by a persistent leg problem.

“Yeah, there's something wrong with his leg right now, but he's OK,” Macdonald said. “Tyler will be ready to go.”

*Bobo made two excellent catches on the sideline on passes from Blacksmith that seemed way out of bounds. The 6'4 wide receiver skillfully kept the toes of both cleats inside the sideline as he leaned over to catch both throws.

*Full-back Boye Mafe had his best pass-rushing day of camp, beating Titans right guard Dillon Radunz several times in one-on-one drills. Mafe struggled to get past Seahawks linemen in daily camp battles.

*Run back Zach Charbonnet felt tightness in his legs in the morning, so the team didn't let him practice. Undrafted rookie George Holani from Boise State was the second running back behind Kenneth Walker. Holani completed the third play of the starters' practice game, a 5-yard run inside. Coaches, including Macdonald, love Holani's physicality.

Kenny McIntoshSeattle's draft pick last season was the third running back in the reserve offense.

*Starting Defensive End Dre'Mont Jones left training towards the end with an apparent injury. It was his second training session after a two-week break with a thigh problem.

“I think he felt a little bit of a turnaround or something because he couldn't finish the training,” Macdonald said, “but I think he's good to go.”

*Starting Tight End Noah Fant has not trained. “I have no information on that at the moment,” Macdonald said.