Sam Darnold timetable to return’s ‘shifted quite drastically’ in Seahawks’ favor
Sam Darnold is blowing away initial estimates on how long he’ll be out injured.
Now the question has become: Will the Super-Bowl-champion quarterback be ready to play next Sunday when his Seahawks (2-0) play at Washington (0-2)?
It appeared following Seattle’s 31-7 win at Arizona that Darnold may be on track to return to practice this week, perhaps as early as Wednesday. That’s the next day the Seahawks will be on the field, to begin full preparation to play at the Commanders.
“We’re optimistic. We’ll see,” coach Mike Macdonald said after Darnold’s fill-in starter Drew Lock threw three touchdown passes to Jaxon Smith-Njigba Sunday.
“The timetable has shifted quite drastically, frankly, (over the last) 10 days or whatever. So we’ve got three more days, 30% if that time, to kind of see where it’s going between now and Wednesday.”
Yes, Darnold is ahead of his schedule to return compared to what the team initially thought when New England’s Dre’Mont Jones dragged down the quarterback from behind on a sack Sept. 9 in Seattle’s opener. The initial fear was a bone issue if not fracture to his right hip. C-T scans at Harborview Medical Center the night of the injury and subsequent MRI results confirmed no bone damage.
Once the injury was diagnosed as a muscle injury in Darnold’s rear end, months became weeks became maybe a week or two for Darnold’s estimated return.
Drew Lock shines for injured Darnold
Lock has shined in his first meaningful snaps for Seattle since 2023.
In the final 3 1/2 quarters he played for Darnold against the Patriots (a 13-10 win) then Sunday against the Cardinals, Lock has completed 35 of 48 passes. His 72.9% completion rate is fourth-best in the league among QBs who have played basically two games. He’s thrown for 422 yards and four touchdowns with zero turnovers while replacing Darnold.
After his 19-for-26 day and three scoring throws to Smith-Njigba Sunday against the Cardinals, Lock said: “It was awesome.”
“Really proud of him. Really happy for him,” Macdonald said. “We’re on record how we feel about him. He just backed that up today.
“But, the 12 as One thing, everybody had each other’s back.
“I mean, you just couldn’t be happier for the guy. We just love him. …He did a tremendous job.”
