The NFL's Week 8 Monday Night Football matchup featured a pair of stars making debuts with new teams after blockbuster trades — Quenton Nelson with the Seattle Seahawks and Jeffery Simmons for the Chicago Bears.
Simmons was very visible for Chicago's defense. The defensive lineman posted an early sack with two tackles for loss, one pass defense, and a quarterback hit. Simmons also finished with a team-high six total tackles.
Nelson wasn't as visible for the Seahawks. Even head coach Mike Macdonald didn't seem to notice Nelson throughout Monday night.
When asked if he got much of a sense on how Nelson played, Macdonald replied with only one word.
"No," the head coach said.
The Seahawks sent a 2027 third-round pick and 2028 fifth-rounder to the Indianapolis Colts in a trade for Nelson on October 27. Nelson started at left guard in his Seattle debut Monday night.
Offensive linemen generally don't stand out during NFL games. That's particularly the case if they are playing well and for interior linemen.
It's understandable why coaches don't even notice them initially. There's obviously a lot happening on the field and sideline during an NFL game. Seahawks fans shouldn't be alarmed Macdonald didn't have anything to say about the team's new acquisition's debut.
In postgame press conferences, Macdonald, like a lot of NFL head coaches, sometimes doesn't comment on certain players or units until after reviewing the game film.
Macdonald offered that type of response while answering a question on the team's running game Monday night.
"I'm not sure yet," said Macdonald on his concern with the rushing attack. "We came off of last week feeling good, and then obviously, we have some change-up in our offensive line.
"I expect us to get back and get better, but I don't have a great answer for you right now."
With that answer, Macdonald seemed to imply Nelson's arrival could have impacted the team's offensive line chemistry in Monday's game.
That doesn't mean Nelson played poorly or is to blame for the potential struggles in the run game. It's just the reality that it takes time for an offensive line to gel.
The more traditional statistics say otherwise, but according to the Pro Football Focus player grades , the Seahawks offensive line was above average against the Bears.
Nelson, left tackle Josh Jones and center Jalen Sundell all had very good to excellent player grades in the game. Right tackle Abraham Lucas also fared well in PFF's grading system.
Nelson performed best in run blocking, posting a 92.6 grade out of 100. However, his pass protection grade sat at 59.8.
PFF grades often have to be taken with a grain of salt. But it seems fair to characterize Nelson's Seahawks debut as good but not great, particularly in pass blocking.
The biggest concern going forward for the Seahawks offensive line, though, might be fellow guard Grey Zabel. Switching to right guard with Nelson now starting at left guard, Zabel really struggled versus Chicago.
Zabel posted a 32.8 PFF grade. He had run and pass blocking grades below 39.
Facing the dominating Simmons for a majority of Monday night, though, might explain that low grade.
It will be interesting to see what Macdonald says about Nelson or the rest of the offensive line after he has time to review Monday's game. But it's clear that how Zabel transitions to right guard will be just as important as how Nelson plays for the Seahawks the rest of the season.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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