Drew Lock has spent enough time around the Seahawks to know how this works. One week you’re the backup, the next week you’re the guy everyone is looking at, and the job suddenly comes with a lot more weight.
That is where Lock is now after Mike Macdonald named him Seattle’s starter for Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. The 29-year-old has handled the shift with the same easygoing style he usually shows around the facility, coconut water in hand and often with a compression sleeve on the same arm. But underneath that calm exterior is a quarterback who still carries the same drive that got him here in the first place.
“I feel like that edge is always there. It shouldn’t leave you,” Lock said Thursday. “And, honestly, the day it leaves me will be the day that I start looking at myself in the mirror, like, what are we doing?
“You always want to play. You always want to be the guy.”
Sunday will be Lock’s first regular-season start since the end of the 2024 season with the New York Giants, coming between two stints in Seattle. He did get live work last week, finishing 16 of 22 for 187 yards and a touchdown after entering the season-opening 13-10 win over the New England Patriots.
Lock has had to keep himself sharp in a different way this week. He said he keeps a whiteboard near his bed and uses all kinds of surfaces to work through plays during the week.
In a normal week, he estimated he gets about 5-10 reps with the first-team offense. This time, Macdonald said Wednesday, Lock will get the bulk of those snaps in practice, with third-stringer Jalen Milroe also picking up some first-team work.
That has made the preparation feel compressed, almost like cramming for finals, but Lock sounded fine with that. “I’m attacking this week,” he said. “It’s obviously not the same.”
He’s also leaned on Sam Darnold in the quarterback room, even though this time it’s Darnold who is helping him get ready while dealing with a glute injury. That’s a different kind of week for Lock, who said he is far more prepared now than when he first entered the league. He has had his share of turnover trouble, including a league-high 15 interceptions in 2020 with the Denver Broncos.
But people around him see a quarterback who has grown into more than just a big arm and raw talent. Seahawks tight end Eric Saubert, who was with Lock in Denver in 2021, said he saw the physical tools right away and believes the rest has come with time.
“Intangibles are all there, like arm strength, ability,” Saubert said. “I think he’s more poised, smarter.
I don’t want to say more of a pro, but we all grow in that way. He’s just on top of his stuff and knows who he is and plays confidently.”
That kind of praise has followed Lock since Seattle brought him in as part of the blockbuster Russell Wilson trade in 2022. Lock said John Schneider and Pete Carroll made him feel wanted from the start.
“The belief that they had in me was through the roof,” Lock said, “and it really, it warmed my heart a little bit.”
Macdonald clearly feels the same way. He called Lock a true professional and a player who brings the right mix of looseness and focus.
“He’s got a great balance about him of being a true professional,” Macdonald said. “But also, he’s a loose and focused guy.
He’s a warrior in the garden. He’s all the things that we want from our players.”
Lock has also built a life in the Pacific Northwest. He and his wife, Natalie, have two children, both born during his time with the Seahawks.
And when the Seahawks have needed him, he has delivered. He helped fuel a comeback win over the Philadelphia Eagles on “Monday Night Football” late in the 2023 season, throwing the winning touchdown with 28 seconds left. He did it again in his own way in last week’s opener.
That has only strengthened his standing in the locker room. Teammates have gone as far as calling him the best second-string quarterback in the league, and Saubert echoed that confidence.
“Drew’s the man, and everyone backs him and stands by him,” Saubert said. “We know we can win with him, and we all love him as a person, too and as a leader.”
For years, teams have seen enough in Lock to believe he could be a franchise quarterback. That is not his label in Seattle right now. But for this week, the spotlight is on him, and he sounds ready for it.
“That’s the mentality you have to have: We’re going to win or lose this game because of how I played today,” Lock said. “That’s the mentality.”
Notes: Darnold sat out again Thursday after missing Wednesday’s practice. Safety Ty Okada (hamstring), who was sidelined for Week 1, did not practice. Nickel back Nick Emmanwori (ankle) and wide receiver Tory Horton (hamstring), who each missed the opener due to injury, practiced on a limited basis.
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