The Seattle Seahawks are preparing for a pivotal postseason showdown against the San Francisco 49ers, but it sounds like they might have to do it without their star quarterback, Sam Darnold.
Despite the oblique injury, Darnold is currently listed as questionable to play in Saturday night’s showdown with the 49ers, and he has indicated that he plans to play in the game.
When asked this week about the odds that he might not play in the game, Darnold responded by saying the chances that he was sidelined for the game were “closer to zero.”
However, the latest report on Darnold’s status does not exactly sound nearly that optimistic. In fact, it sounds quite concerning.
On Saturday morning, ESPN’s NFL insider Adam Schefter reported that not only has Darnold been dealing with an injury this week, but he hasn’t even attempted to throw a football since suffering the injury on Thursday. More than that, backup quarterback Drew Locke has received all of the first-team reps the past two days.
“Seahawks QB Sam Darnold hasn’t thrown a football since he hurt his oblique Thursday,” Schefter wrote in a post on X. “The Seahawks believe, but don’t know, that he will be OK to start tonight’s game vs. the 49ers.”
“Backup QB Drew Lock took the reps the past two days and is ready if needed,” Schefter continued.
Needless to say, that is not great news for the Seahawks, who have relied heavily on Darnold and his connection with superstar wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba throughout the season.
We’ll have to see whether or not Darnold is healthy enough to play on Saturday night, and how he performs if he does start for the team.
About Dave Kelsey
Contributing author to The Comeback.