The Seahawks are heading into Week 10 with a quarterback setup that looks a lot like last week’s, even if the names on the injury report still raise eyebrows.
Mike Macdonald said Monday on his weekly radio show that Sam Darnold will miss another game because of the quad injury and broken rib that have kept him out, while Drew Lock is trending toward starting against the Las Vegas Raiders. The coach said Seattle will go in with a “similar plan” to the one it used against Arizona, with Lock running the offense and Jalen Milroe behind him.
Lock’s availability had been in question after he briefly went into the sideline medical tent during the Seahawks’ win over the Arizona Cardinals because of an oblique issue. He had already been dealing with elbow tendinitis before that start, so the fact that he got through the game at all said plenty about where he was physically. Macdonald said Lock had a “good exam” and called it “something that we can manage” as the quarterback prepares for what would be his third start of the season.
Even with the bumps and bruises, Lock got the job done against Arizona. He completed 19 of 28 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown in Seattle’s win, though it was clear he wasn’t operating at full strength. The Seahawks’ offense had a modest day overall against a Cardinals defense that came into Week 9 allowing the fifth-worst defensive EPA/play in the league, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
After the game, Lock explained how the week played out around his injury. “I was pressing to do everything I possibly could all the time, and [the fans] were able to pull me back a little bit,” Lock said after the game.
“Jalen did a fantastic job throughout the week in practice filling in for me. It was a collective effort from everybody to get to Sunday, and shoot, here we are 17-3.
Go Hawks.”
The timing works out well for Darnold, too. If he sits one more week, he’ll get the extra recovery time before Seattle’s bye, which comes right after the Raiders game. That would set him up for a Nov. 29 road matchup with the San Francisco 49ers, a game that could loom large for the reigning champions if they can get there without any more setbacks.
Lock has already given Seattle exactly what it needed in his two starts this season, both against the Cardinals. He’s 2-0, and his Week 2 performance helped the Seahawks put up 31 points against their division rival. Still, this remains Darnold’s offense, and the expectation is that he’ll be back as the starter after the bye.
If Lock can’t go because of the oblique or the elbow, Milroe would be next in line for his first appearance of the season. The former third-round draft pick has yet to throw a pass in his career, though he has carried the ball three times for four yards in three games as a rookie in 2025. Seattle also has Adrian Martinez on its practice squad.
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