Ernest Jones, a five-year NFL veteran now in his second season with the Seahawks and first alongside Sam Darnold, came to his quarterback’s defense after Darnold suffered four interceptions against the Los Angeles Rams. As a good teammate, Jones publicly shielded Darnold from criticism.

In a strong, heavily censored statement, Jones told critics to leave Darnold alone: “Sam has had us in every f—- game. For him to sit there and say it’s his fault, no it’s not. … If you got anything to say quite frankly f— you,” said the linebacker, who witnessed the interceptions firsthand.

The game finished 21-19 in favor of the Rams, who also made errors but won by a narrow margin. At times, the game looked totally in the Rams’ favor, but the Seahawks defense managed to contain the disaster for a long stretch.

Darnold takes responsibility after Rams loss

“I can’t turn the ball over as much as I did today,” Darnold said after losing the game, but assured he will learn from those costly errors. “I’ll learn from it, watch the tape, grow from it. You’ve got to give credit to the Rams. Obviously, they’re a really good defense, a really good team. But I’ve got to be better, personally.”

Darnold acknowledged the Seahawks defensive line did great work: “We’re still in this despite the turnovers and all the things that happened prior to that. That’s a huge credit to our defense, the way that they played all day,” and at the same time admitted he wasn’t at his best: “I just wish I could have played better for our defense and just everyone on the team.”

Mike Macdonald’s confidence remains high

Regarding Darnold, Coach Mike Macdonald was clear that he still has full confidence in his QB, who continued to help the team despite the interceptions during the game. “I’m not surprised. That’s who Sam is. He’s done it since day one with us. And he’s an ultimate competitor, and he’s a great quarterback — and he’s our quarterback. We love him.”

“We’re going to recoup,”Macdonald said after losing for the first time in five weeks. “We’re going to go get back and attack the heck out of this week just like we would if the field goal went in. Encouraged by our group; obviously, very disappointed we lost. We want to be able to win a game like that given all the circumstances, but we didn’t. But it’s a long season, and we’ll move forward.”