Price benched after fumble as Seahawks fall 33-31 at Washington

Rookie Jadarian Price lost a fumble for the second straight game and spent much of Seattle's 33-31 loss at Washington watching from the sideline in a raincoat.

Jadarian Price spent long stretches of Sunday's loss in a blue raincoat over his pads, helmet still on against the Maryland rain, while the Seattle Seahawks played without him. Benched after his second fumble in as many weeks, the first-round pick from Notre Dame — drafted to succeed departed Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker — watched the defending champions fall 33-31 to the previously winless Washington Commanders, their first defeat since November 2025. Seattle dropped to 2-1.

The fumble came on Price's third carry, with 11 minutes remaining in the opening quarter. Reaching for an extra yard deep in Seattle's own end, he was upended and met by cornerback Amik Robertson just before hitting the ground; nose tackle Tim Settle Jr. recovered at the Seahawks' 21. Backup quarterback Marcus Mariota capped a short possession with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Rachaad White for the game's opening points.

To that point, Sunday's miscue plus one a week earlier in a win at Arizona stood as Seattle's only giveaways in six games, a stretch reaching back to Week 17 of last season at Carolina. Coach Mike Macdonald, coordinator Brian Fleury and running backs coach Thomas Hammock held Price out for the next two drives while Emanuel Wilson took over; Macdonald called it a "calm it down" stretch and said, "Just as a team, if we turn the ball over it's not good business." Price saw two more plays before halftime and carried twice the rest of the way.

"I made a mistake early on," Price said in a notably quiet Seattle locker room. "So just got to deal with the consequences that come with that." Looking toward next Sunday's visit from the Los Angeles Chargers, he cited a need for "being more focused on the situations instead of trying to make the big play" and "keeping the ball," calling the problem "a mindset thing."

Price finished with 15 yards on five rushes, 11 of them on his opening carry; the other four netted 4 yards and included the fumble. His scattered snaps featured a play fake that freed Sam Darnold's 10-yard completion to Cooper Kupp, an incomplete deep shot down the right sideline in tight coverage, and two touches to open the second half — a catch in the flat and a run to the right — each good for 7 yards and a first down.

The next throw cost Seattle again. Darnold's pass ricocheted off Settle's helmet, with center Jalen Sundell blocking the nose tackle at the line, and hung in the air until Washington intercepted at the Seattle 43. Mariota answered with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin, who leaped and turned cornerback Josh Jobe around, stretching the lead to 24-10.

Seattle managed 44 rushing yards on 18 carries, seven days after a 162-yard ground game in a 31-7 win over Arizona. Price's 15 yards led the rotation; Wilson added 14 on nine carries and George Holani, a third-year back from Boise State, 10 on three.

Nothing came easy at the goal line. Wilson was thrown for a 2-yard loss on a second-quarter try from the 1 that would have tied it, and Holani was stopped for no gain on the same drive before Darnold found Jaxon Smith-Njigba on an out route from the 1 for a touchdown. Late in the half, down 14-7 with a first down at the Washington 5, Seattle managed a 3-yard Wilson run and then three straight incompletions, the last, on fourth down, intended for tight end AJ Barner. Four runs from the 6 and then the 1 had failed at Arizona the week before. Price called the goal-line issues "another mindset thing": "We've just gotta understand that once we get in there, we've just gotta get it across the line," he said.

The backfield is also missing Zach Charbonnet, who remains on the physically-unable-to-perform list seven months after reconstructive knee surgery. The fourth-year back scored 12 rushing touchdowns last season, more than any Seahawk since Marshawn Lynch in 2014, and Macdonald said Friday he could practice this week, with Week 5 against San Francisco his earliest possible game under PUP rules. Sunday's matchup aired on Fox and Fox One and streamed on NFL Plus; Seattle hosts the Chargers (0-3) next Sunday.