The Seattle Seahawks will have Sam Darnold back in the lineup, but they’ll be down both of their starting safeties against the Washington Commanders.
Mike Macdonald confirmed on Friday that Darnold is not on the final injury report and will start on Sunday. He missed almost all of the Week 1 opener against the New England Patriots and all of Week 2 versus the Arizona Cardinals with a glute injury. His injury (and, consequently, his initial timeline) was unclear, but he’s made significant strides in his recovery
and is all set to go. Drew Lock will once again be the backup quarterback after two great showings, and Jalen Milroe will presumably be the emergency third quarterback.
Here’s the bad news: Seattle’s safety injuries are piling up.
Julian Love’s calf tightened up in practice, and the Seahawks have held him out of this weekend’s game. Love, who missed half of last regular season due to injury, has been off to an outstanding start to 2026, recording interceptions in both games.
Ty Okada’s hamstring still hasn’t healed up, which means the Seahawks’ starting safety tandem will be Rodney Thomas II and A.J. Finley. Seattle will presumably look at elevating at least one of Maxen Hook or D’Anthony Bell from the practice squad on Saturday.
Nose tackle Brandon Pili is questionable with a concussion and neck injury, but he’s the only other player with an injury designation.
Seattle’s injury situation is decidedly tame compared to what the Commanders are dealing with. Guard Sam Cosmi will be out after Kaytron Allen ran into him and knocked him out of the Dallas Cowboys game. Tight end Chig Okonkwo is also out, as is starting linebacker Frankie Luvu, and starting safety Nick Cross.
