The Seahawks are headed into Week 9 without Sam Darnold, and the timing leaves Seattle with a familiar kind of quarterback uncertainty.
Head coach Mike Macdonald said Wednesday that Darnold is dealing with a quadriceps injury and has already been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported it this way: “Seahawks QB Sam Darnold will be out Sunday vs. Arizona due to quad injury, per HC Mike Macdonald,”
For now, there’s no clear read on how serious the injury is. What is clear is that Darnold wasn’t on Seattle’s injury report last week, which points to the issue showing up in the Week 8 loss to the Chicago Bears, a game in which he absorbed plenty of hits.
That pushes the Seahawks to backup Drew Lock, who has been managing an injury of his own. Macdonald said Lock is expected to practice and play this week. Gregg Bell 93.3 KJR reported, “Drew Lock injured his throwing elbow in a rainy practice a couple weeks ago, coach Mike Macdonald says,” and later added, “Conservative practice plan for (Lock) earlier this week, Seahawks expect him to start vs Cardinals Sunday,”
If Lock can’t go, Seattle would turn to second-year quarterback Jalen Milroe. That would put the Seahawks in a tough spot, since the Alabama product has never started or thrown a pass in a regular-season game.
Macdonald also said the team could sign a quarterback, and would do so if Lock ends up unavailable.
The injury adds another rough chapter to Darnold’s 2026 season. This will be the second game he’s missed after a glute injury kept him out in Week 2.
Through seven games, he has completed 60.2% of his passes for 1,478 yards with 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Last season, he completed 67.7% of his passes and threw 14 interceptions, and he’s currently on pace to be worse in both categories.
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