Sam Darnold’s return to the Seahawks looks closer by the day, and Seattle has every reason to take its time.
After opening the season with a 13-10 win over the reigning AFC champion Patriots and following that up with a 31-7 rout of the Cardinals, the defending Super Bowl champions have barely missed a beat without their starting quarterback. Darnold went down early in the Patriots game with a glute injury and still has not practiced in Seattle, much less played again. That appears poised to change soon.
NFL insider Ian Rapoport reported that Darnold is expected back on the practice field this week, potentially as early as Wednesday.
"It sounds like Sam Darnold has a chance to return this week," Rapoport said. "They want to be cautious with him.
The fact that he's going to be out there practicing this week is a very good sign. This was the word we got on Sunday, that he's healing faster than anybody would have imagined, and this is all really good ...
Maybe another week of Drew Lock, but sooner rather than later for Darnold."
While Darnold has been sidelined, Drew Lock has handled the job with confidence. Through two games, he has completed 72.9% of his passes for 422 yards and four touchdowns without throwing an interception. His 127.3 passer rating leads the NFL, ahead of Jaxson Dart at 125.9, Josh Allen at 125.8 and Brock Purdy at 125.6.
A big part of that production has gone through Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who leads the league with 277 receiving yards and four touchdowns. Even so, Lock’s numbers speak for themselves. He’s still the backup, but he has given Seattle a steady answer while the team waits for its starter to get right.
That’s where the Seahawks’ long view comes in. Darnold was their guy last season, when he threw for 4,048 yards and 25 touchdowns against 14 interceptions, completed 67.7% of his passes, earned his second straight Pro Bowl nod and helped Seattle win a Super Bowl. The team is not about to change course now, especially with Lock playing so well that there’s no reason to force the issue.
Seattle’s next two games also give the club some breathing room. The Seahawks face the Commanders next, and Washington is 0-2 and just lost Jayden Daniels, before a Week 4 home matchup with the struggling Chargers. Both are games Seattle will be heavily favored to win, with or without Darnold.
In Other News...
Mariners Fans Need To Confront One Big Lazaro Montes Concern
Lazaro Montes has already given Mariners fans a reason to dream, mostly because of the kind of power that can change the feel of a game in one swing. The highly regarded position player prospect has made a name for himself with big-time pop, including the longest home run at T-Mobile Park in the Statcast era, and that kind of raw strength is exactly why his rise in the system has drawn so much attention.
The question hanging over Montes is whether the rest of his profile will catch up enough to let that power play consistently at the next level. His contact issues, especially against fastballs and left-handed pitching, have kept him from fully unlocking that ceiling so far, even as he continues to show real promise. Still, the expectation is that hell be part of Seattles roster next season, which means the Mariners may soon find out just how much room there is for growth. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners Just Got Another Brutal Reminder Of What This Season Became
A season that once looked like it might carry the Mariners back into October instead became another long lesson in how quickly expectations can slip away. Seattles promising start faded under the weight of too little offense, shaky defense and late-game failures, the same issues that kept showing up as the standings tightened and the margins got smaller.
ESPNs David Schoenfield reflected that frustration in a harsh assessment of the clubs year, and it landed as just another reminder of where things stand in Seattle. The scrutiny is not only on the roster, either, with Dan Wilson expected to be replaced and Jerry Dipoto still carrying the burden of having reached the playoffs only twice in 11 seasons as president of baseball operations. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners Just Learned The Cost Of Mistaking Continuity For Depth
When ESPN first sized up the Mariners offseason, the review looked encouraging enough, with an A-minus grade attached to a winter built around sensible moves like keeping Josh Naylor and adding Brendan Donovan. On paper, it felt like the kind of businesslike approach this front office prefers: preserve what works, plug a couple of holes, and trust the core to carry the rest.
By September, though, the grade had plunged to an F, a harsh reflection of how quickly the season unraveled on multiple fronts. The Mariners pitching slipped, the offense disappeared, and even the defense stopped being a reliable backbone, exposing a roster that may have been talented but was not nearly deep enough to withstand a long stretch of trouble. [Read more 🡒]