Seattle dodged a major setback as Sam Darnold avoids injured reserve. Drew Lock takes the reins against Arizona while the franchise quarterback begins a surprisingly short recovery timeline.
When Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold left the field in the season opener, many had grave fears for what 2026 could look like.
Well, in the aftermath, the Seahawks appear to have gotten lucky, with Darnold's glute injury not seen as a long-term issue.
With Drew Lock stepping in for Darnold in the 13-10 win over the New England Patriots, he is set to get the start in Week 2 against the Arizona Cardinals, with Darnold already ruled out.
But the big question Seattle fans want to know is when will Darnold return?
Originally thought to be a hip injury, not now being a glute issue, it doesn't appear that Darnold will be spending too much time on the sidelines.
And now, we have been given an update from head coach Mike Macdonald on Sam, and it is good news - relatively - for Seahawks fans.
"Sam's going to be out this game, Drew will start for us," Macdonald said. "[We] don't anticipate putting him on IR (injured reserved) or anything like that, but we'll just kind of re-evaluate every day and reevaluate next week and we'll go from there, but he won't play this week."
So, we already knew that it would be Lock starting for Brian Fleury's offense; that was a given because reports stated Seattle would not risk Darnold this early in the season.
Lock gets the start, and after what he produced against New England, there is hope that he can replicate that against Arizona and have Seattle 2-0 without Darnold.
Macdonald stating that the Seahawks don't anticipate putting Darnold on IR is big here, as it means that Sam could be back within four weeks, as any player placed on IR has to miss a minimum of four games.
So, it could be a swift return for Darnold, who, according to ESPN's Brady Henderson, is moving around already.
"Another source estimated that he'll be sidelined for three to four weeks and added that the quarterback is moving around much better in recent days," Henderson wrote.
In truth, it feels like the Seahawks caught a break here, as we saw with Dallas Cowboys running back Malik Davis, who had a hip injury, and he's out for the year.
Darnold, at worst, could miss three, maybe four weeks, and the Seahawks still have plenty of run way to get Sam back into the swing of things.
And if Lock can keep winning while Darnold is out, that would be ideal.
