Sean Mannion once helped Drew Lock beat the Eagles. The future coach ‘sounded like someone who was going to lead men.’
Mannion was the backup, just a chinstrap away from playing himself, but he spent most of the week, and especially game day, preparing the starter for his big moment.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Sean Mannion once played a pivotal role in the Seahawks beating the Eagles. But it came as neither player nor coach. It was as a quasi-player-coach — at least that’s how Drew Lock saw the future Eagles offensive coordinator.
In December 2023, Lock started at quarterback for the injured Geno Smith when Seattle hosted the Eagles in a Week 15 matchup. The Seahawks, like the Eagles, were slumping. But the playoffs were still within reach and Lock wanted to atone for the previous week’s loss to the 49ers when he tossed two interceptions.
Mannion was the backup, just a chinstrap away from playing himself, but he spent most of the week, and especially game day, preparing the starter for his big moment.
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“Me and Sean had to get really close that Eagles week — the week I ended up starting,” Lock said to The Inquirer a week before the Seahawks’ Super Bowl win. “Geno was trying to rehab as much as he could to be able to come back the next week. It was really me and Sean in the quarterback room most of the week.
“But the pep talk he gave me at my locker before we went out there, the stuff he’d say to me on the sideline, it didn’t sound like a fellow quarterback. It sounded like someone who was going to lead men one day. It just sounded different. You could feel it.”
Lock played splendidly despite not knowing what defense he might see after Eagles defensive coordinator Sean Desai’s demotion became public just hours before kickoff. Mannion, who was in his ninth and final season as a player, shifted into the role of coach just a few months before he would officially become one with the Packers.
“It was how focused he kept me,” Lock said. “He saw and told me the things that I did well after a drive, or maybe the things I could have done better. I think it was more about delivery than anything.”
Lock was solid throughout the closely contested game, but he delivered in the clutch. With under two minutes left, he guided the Seahawks on a 10-play, 92-yard game-winning drive. All the yards came through the air, with Lock targeting cornerback James Bradberry in coverage, capped by a 29-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
The 33-year-old Mannion, who was hired by the Eagles two weeks ago after a prolonged search, has several ties to the Seahawks. He was coached by both offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak and quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko, who along with Lock, became champions after the Seahawks beat the Patriots, 29-13, on Sunday night.
Last week, ahead of Super Bowl LX, they spoke glowingly about Mannion, despite his relative coaching inexperience. Janocko said he had a photographic memory.
“In the quarterback room, going over third downs, prepping for a third down day on Thursday, being able to give him two, maybe three words of a play call, he could spit out the rest after just looking at it that morning,” Lock said. “I don’t know many guys that can do that. It was just extremely impressive.”