News and notes from the first day of Seattles organized team activities.

Ari Horton

The Seahawks took the field on Tuesday for the first day of organized team activities which means no live contact, but 7-on7, 9-on-9 and 11-on-11 drills are OK.

Head coach Mike Macdonald said "It was so much fun being back out there. Really love our intent right now. It's been part of our messaging so far this offseason and have had a really spirited offseason program up to this point and gone through Phase 1 and Phase 2. We started Phase 3, obviously, today. I thought we had a great practice. We're off to a good start. Let's just focus on being us throughout the rest of this program and go out the right way. Really happy with where guys are mentally. We're just kind of all on a different planet right now, so we've got some guys that are taking some more reps than others, maybe some guys might not be here right now, but overall really positive day."

Here's five other things we learned:

There's a chance Tory Horton could be back in the spring.

After missing the second half of his rookie season with a shin injury, Seahawks receiver and punt returner, Tory Horton could be out on the field before training camp.

Last season, Horton, in eight games, had 13 catches for 161 yards and five touchdowns. He also returned a punt 95-yards for a touchdown.

"Tory has made a lot of great strides," Macdonald said. "Seems like we got some feedback that can really accelerate his recovery, which is great. He deserves some good news. He's been working really, really hard. It's one of those things, it's like, you don't have a timetable until you do. That just shows you've got to just keep grinding away at it. Some good news back on Tory's front, which is really exciting. Again, we'll have a better feel for Tory as we enter training camp."

Macdonald added, "There's a chance he could do some stuff towards the end of the spring. We'll see. We'll see how it goes."

As for the pair of running backs in Zach Charbonnet and Kenny McIntosh who are recovering from surgeries Macdonald said, "Zach is doing a great job. Same thing with (Kenny). These things, I think they're on their own timetable. That's hard to pin down right now. But we'll be probably having a better idea as we circle back in July."

McIntosh tore his ACL last training camp and Charbonnet tore his in January.

Macdonald didn't give much information on tight end AJ Barner but said Barner should be good to go for training camp.

"He's had the things in the offseason, but he's attacking it like AJ Barner does and as you would expect," he said. "He's itching to get out there. But we'll probably see him come training camp time."

Attendance has been "great," despite this being the voluntary part of the offseason.

Attendance during organized team activities is something Macdonald credits to the success Seattle had last season. Although this portion of the offseason is completely voluntary, the Seahawks had almost close to full participation last season and had a positive turnout on Tuesday as well.

"Guys have been great," Macdonald said. "The guys that haven't been here, they've communicated. It's been phenomenal."

He added, "Been great spirits. Some of the veterans are on a little bit of a timetable that we work through, but the spirit is there, attendance is there. And it's great because when everybody's here, you can get more reps. And so it just makes everything better."

DeMarcus Lawrence is one player that was not in attendance, but Macdonald said there is a plan in place for Lawrence.

"He's on his plan," he said. "He's working through some things but he's in great spirits and he'll be here at some point."

The Seahawks could be participating in joint practices again this season.

Macdonald has made it well known that he sees a benefit to having joint practices during the preseason and will try to participate in one again this season. Last season, Seattle traveled to Green Bay for one joint practice with the Packers before their preseason matchup and in Macdonald's first season, the Seahawks traveled to Nashville for a two-day joint practice with the Titans.

This year, the plan is to try to have a practice with the Titans again.

"The only one we could possibly do is with Tennessee," he said. "Good news for you guys. So we'll see. I wouldn't say it's a done deal yet, but just trying to finalize some details, but we're hopeful that will work out."

Mike Macdonald is always looking to grow.

Part of the Mike Macdonald philosophy is chasing edges and that's exactly what Macdonald is looking to do this season. That mindset starts with his idea of "running it forward" instead of trying the be defending champions or "running it back."

He also knows that it starts with him.

"There's some things personally, like coaching-wise, I want to improve on," he said. "How we structured our practices and some of the intent behind our periods and how we build them has been on the forefront of my mind lately, especially now that we're designing OTAs and training camp and things like that. How we think about how we approach the time of year and the challenges in front of us is a necessary thought experiment to go through, and I think the more we can be aligned on how we approach the new horizons of where our team is going, I think that puts us in a really good position."

Rookies are beginning to get acclimated.

The rookies participated in their minicamp a few weeks ago and since then have started becoming acclimated to life around the Virginia Mason Athletic Center. And like all rookies, there will be a lot of learning they have to do.

"There's a learning curve there," Macdonald said. "The guys have done a great job. I think the work and the intent is there, but how we do things is going to be just something that they just need to learn. And it's all positive, but it's a process, too, and it comes with the territory. There's rookie songs to be had, and team dinners to be had, and some things that we want them just to understand about, how we practice, and things like that, but they're off to a good start."