Mike Macdonald: Ernest Jones is a really good football player all the way around

The Seahawks jumped into the trade market on Wednesday when they sent linebacker Jerome Baker and a fourth-round pick to the Titans for linebacker Ernest Jones.

It’s a move that will bring Jones back to the division he played in during his first three seasons. Jones was a 2021 third-round pick by the Rams and was traded to Tennessee this summer after falling out of the lineup in Los Angeles, but his early work with the Seahawks’ divisional rivals caught the eye of head coach Mike Macdonald.

Macdonald said on Wednesday that Jones caught his eye while making a big impact as a rookie in Super Bowl LVI and that he’s continued to see “just a really good football player, all the way around” while watching tape. Macdonald said he thinks that will help him make a quick transition to his new team and that it will help that he’s been playing for Titans defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson, who was on the same Ravens staff with Macdonald in 2023.

“I think it’s pretty similar,” Macdonald said, via the team’s website. “Hopefully the language carries over a good bit, so the learning curve is flattened out. . . . I’m pretty sure there’s a lot of carryover.”

The Seahawks plan to play Jones at middle linebacker with Tyrel Dodson moving to the weak side and they plan to deploy their new look for the first time against the Bills this weekend.