Sam Darnold won’t play Sunday. Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said Wednesday that his starting quarterback is out against the Arizona Cardinals with a quad injury and is week to week, ESPN reported. Macdonald added that Darnold won’t go on injured reserve.
Darnold got hurt late in Seattle’s 34-17 loss to the Chicago Bears on Monday night, according to Seattle Sports. The loss dropped the defending Super Bowl champions to 4-4.
Drew Lock is in line to start, with Jalen Milroe as the backup. That comes with its own question mark: Lock has been inactive for the past two games with a right elbow injury. Macdonald said the team will have both quarterbacks ready and added, “We have full confidence in those guys.” Seattle Sports reported the Seahawks could still add another quarterback this week.
Lock has done this before, and against this opponent
Seattle has already lived without Darnold once this season. He hurt his glute on the first series of the opener against New England and missed most of the first two games. Lock filled in with four touchdown passes and no interceptions, and his 82.5 Total QBR ranked sixth in the league over those two weeks, per ESPN. The second of those games was a 31-7 win over Arizona, when Lock went 19 of 26 for 235 yards and three touchdowns.
Why it matters
McGraw Media’s read: the matchup is kind to Seattle, the timing isn’t. A .500 record is no place for a champion to lose its starter, and the Seahawks are now leaning on a backup coming off an elbow injury with Jalen Milroe behind him. Lock’s September tape against this same Cardinals team is the reason not to panic, and “week to week” without an IR move suggests the team doesn’t see this as a long absence. Still, the elbow is the thing to watch. If Lock isn’t fully right, a quarterback signing before Sunday would tell you how worried the Seahawks really are.
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