3 games, it’s obvious: Seahawks must re-$ign Ernest Jones. Abe Lucas exhausted in debut

Amid the mess that's been the last two weeks for the Seahawks, two undeniable facts have emerged.

Ernest Jones IV is exactly the middle linebacker Mike Macdonald demands for his defense.

And — even though he's so new his wife and their three-month-old baby girl are living in their new Seattle-area home with no furniture in it — the Seahawks better re-sign him.

Pronto.

In his third game with his new team since arriving in a trade from Tennessee late last month, Jones show how invaluable he already is in the middle of Seattle's defense that's been ransacked for years. Jones had a game-high 13 tackles against the San Francisco 49ers Sunday at Levi's Stadium.

More impressive: Six of those stops — about half — were for 2, 1 or 0 yards.

After three years and six consecutive wins of San Francisco just shredding the Seahawks for mammoth gains, the 49ers had just one explosive play of over 15 yards in 57 offensive snaps Sunday.

Jones in the middle, Devon Witherspoon's tipped pass for nose tackle Johnathan Hankins' first interception of his 12-year career and Coby Bryant's open-field tackle of Jauan Jenning short of the line to gain on third down to give Geno Smith and the Seahawks offense back the ball with 2:35 left kept Seattle in the game long enough for Smith to win it in the end, 20-17 .

Jones' mentality?

"Head down. Head first. And go through the man in front of you," he said after the Seahawks' first win over San Francisco in seven tries over three years back to 2021.

Jones has only been with the Seahawks for 3 1/2 weeks. Yet the former Rams' linebacker who was traded twice in three months since August says he knows how big the win was Sunday over the 49ers.

"I do. I do. Heck, I was in L.A.; we couldn't beat them in the regular season, either," Jones said.

He was like the Seahawks before Sunday: 0-4 in the regular season against San Francisco in his four-year career.

"For us to come down here in their spot, for us to take a win from them, that's big for this team. That's big for what we have going forward," Jones said.

"I keep saying, man, I'm really excited for what this thing gets rollin'."

Ernest Jones, difference maker The Seahawks began this season where they were last season: Dreadful stopping the run.

The Patriots rushed for 185 yards in week two to send that eventual Seattle escape win to overtime. The two-win New York Giants romped for 185 yards all over Lumen Field to upset the Seahawks.

When the 49ers came to Seattle last month, their All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey was out injured. Backup Jordan Mason got hurt in the first half and did not return. Third-stringer rookie Isaac Guerendo led San Francisco's runs at middle linebacker Tyrel Dodson and weakside Jerome Baker for 228 yards rushing. The Niners beat the Seahawks yet again, 36-24 .

Head coach Macdonald and general manager John Schneider sent Baker, who was not stout against the run, plus a fourth-round pick to the Titans last month to get Jones .

He arrived to replace Dodson, also not strong enough to take on blockers and ball carriers, as a run-stopper in the middle of the Seahawks' defense. The Seahawks cut Dodson this past week.

Jones hits guys and they just fall. Straight down. Or back.

Christian McCaffrey gained 79 yards on 19 carries. The 49ers that romped without McCaffrey.

Tyrice Knight, the rookie fourth-round draft choice, replaced Dodson at weakside linebacker Sunday. Knight had 10 more tackles, a lot closer to the line of scrimmage than Dodson typically made the last two games or Baker did for months there.

Exactly what Macdonald was seeking for his new middle linebacker and inside weakside linebacker.

"We've made a big deal about the inside linebackers," Macdonald said.

"The insider backers need to make tackles. I think we made a ton of tackles with the inside backers today, and that's great for us."

Ernest Jones' contract needs re-upped Jones is earning $3.1 million in the final season of his contract. The Seahawks are paying only $1.9 million. That's a massive bargain with what they are getting already from him.

His deal ends at the end of this season. His contract is up at the end of this season. The Seahawks need to re-sign him more than they need to re-sign anyone else on the roster whose contracts are ending.

He sounds willing. He says he and his young family are tired of moving, from Southern California to Nashville to Seattle in three months. He wants to stay.

The Seahawks need him to.

Jones said on his way out of the Bay Area back to his latest new home, in Seattle now: "I'm going to keep saying: "I'm excited about what we really can be when this thing gets rollin'."

Abe Lucas' season debut Abe Lucas was smoked.

He'd played almost the entire game, his first one in 11 months. Rookie Mike Jerrell replaced Lucas for one drive in each half. That was the "pitch count" Seahawks coaches had Lucas on in the starting right tackle's season debut following a long recovery from knee surgery last winter.

On the final drive, Lucas had one thought as he saw his quarterback Geno Smith scrambling the final 13 yards with 18 seconds left for the touchdown that ended the Seahawks' futility against the 49ers.

"Thank you, Jesus," Lucas said with a grin amid the boomin' bass of the Seahawks' locker room at Levi's Stadium late Sunday afternoon.

"I turned and walked to the sideline — to go get some oxygen."

"I can tell you the last, probably, five or six plays I was breathing very, very heavily," Lucas said, chuckling. "I mean, it's been almost a year since I played, right?"

Now the question becomes how Lucas' knee responds to playing a game for the first time since last Dec. 21. The Seahawks (5-5) need him next Sunday when they host the Arizona Cardinals (6-4) for first place in the NFC West at Lumen Field.

For that reason, Lucas was fine with alternating with Jerrell Sunday. Pacing remains key for him.

"I knew the plan coming in," Lucas said, "so I was able to respect that and prepare for that mentally."

The Seahawks lost kick returners Laviska Shenault and rookie Dee Williams to injuries in the first half.

Williams left the field on the back of a cart after injuring his ankle on the second-half kickoff teammate Kenny McIntosh returned.

"I don't think it's broken or anything like that, as I believe the X-ray said," Macdonald said.

McIntosh returned the kickoff because Shenault, who also had a few snaps at wide receiver, injured his oblique.

Macdonald said the team isn't sure of the severity of either injury until they get MRI tests back at team headquarters in Renton early this week.