Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald is at the NFL’s annual league meeting in Orlando, and we’ll be hearing from him quite a bit over the next few days.

At the time Macdonald was hired by Seattle back in February, quarterback Geno Smith didn’t have his salary guaranteed, and Macdonald was fairly diplomatic and noncommittal regarding the futures of both Smith and Drew Lock. With Smith’s 2024 salary now secure and his contract restructured, Lock gone to the New York Giants, and Sam Howell acquired via trade, the quarterback picture looks a little different.

In an interview with NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero, Coach Macdonald was asked about whether he anticipates a QB competition on between Smith and Howell, and this time he emphasized that Geno is QB1.

“l don’t,” Macdonald said. “I’ve talked to Geno about it. Very confident in Geno. Geno’s going to be our starter. Sam (Howell) knows he’s going to be our backup, but Sam is a great young player, and he’s got a really bright future that we believe in.”

This is keeping in line with John Schneider’s statements after Howell was traded, so there aren’t any mixed messages being sent. It doesn’t mean the Seahawks won’t draft a quarterback next month, but the moves made this offseason do not indicate that Seattle is ready to move on from Smith this season. We can probably drop this as any semblance of a story for the time being.

There’s more from the interview, including how Macdonald views the mindset of the team.

So what does define the 2024 Seahawks? According to Macdonald, the players on this year’s squad all embody a deep want to prove themselves, a characteristic which their new head coach both values and shares.

“I think we’re hungry, I think we’re a determined group, I think we have a lot of people on our team, both players and coaches, that have a lot to prove,” he said. “And I’m excited about that, so it starts now, definitely starts April 8 when the guys get in the building and we can kind of start getting after it.”

No man might represent that approach better than Macdonald’s new quarterback Geno Smith, who has defined what it means to fight for his himself over his career and through his two resurgent years as the Seattle signal-caller.

“That resonates with a lot of our stories, having gone through a lot of trials and tribulations and finding his stride here in the last few years,” Macdonald said of Smith. “And then going against him, obviously his track record the last couple years and the stats he’s been able to put up, his poise, his leadership, obviously his capability throwing the football, and our relationship is just getting started to grow.”

A Macdonald press conference at the league meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, where presumably we’ll get a lot more info and maybe even more of a read as to his plans for the team following the free agency moves.