The Seahawks were jolted when QB Sam Darnold left on the opening drive of the 2026 season with what was first called a hip injury and later described as a glute issue. The team clarified it’s an unusual soft-tissue problem that does not involve the hip joint.
Seattle doesn’t expect it to be a long-term absence, but Darnold isn’t ready to play yet and has been ruled out for Week 2 at Arizona. That opens the door for Drew Lock to make his first start for the Seahawks since 2023, and the team says it won’t place Darnold on injured reserve.
Not being put on IR means Darnold could miss fewer than four games; ESPN has reported a roughly four-week outlook, though the hope is an earlier return, and Jeremy Fowler noted Darnold has been moving better in recent days.
From 2024–25 Darnold finished among the league leaders with 28 wins, 8,367 passing yards and 60 touchdown passes, and he hadn’t missed a game because of injury since 2021. (By comparison, over the last 15 seasons the only reigning Super Bowl QB to miss substantial time was Matthew Stafford, who missed eight games in 2022.)
When Lock filled in last week he completed 16 of 22 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown in a 13–10 win over New England, including a 45-yard fourth-and-1 touchdown to Jaxon Smith-Njigba — the second-longest fourth-down TD for Seattle since 2000, per CBS Sports Research. Lock’s career record as a starter stands at 10–18.
Arizona, despite finishing last in the NFC West a year ago, opened their season with a 26–14 upset of the Chargers — the biggest Week 1 upset (9.5 points) since 2018 and the first opening-game loss in Jim Harbaugh’s NFL career.
Fan Take: This matters because Darnold’s absence immediately tests Seattle’s depth at the most critical position and could shift the balance in the NFC West depending on how long he’s out. It’s also a reminder across the league that dependable backup quarterbacks and careful management of soft-tissue injuries can decide seasons.
Source: www.cbssports.com
