The first time the Arizona Cardinals played the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2 this year, it was 7-7 at the half. At the final gun, the Seahawks had destroyed the Cardinals to the tune of 31-7.
The loss put the Cardinals on notice that maybe, just maybe, this wasn’t going to be their year. After all, they had a new coach, Mike LaFleur, who had installed a brand new offense. Learning new systems take time, and after getting taken to the woodshed, it was apparent that this was going to yet another rebuilding
year.
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Which is a complete bummer. How many rebuilding years is one franchise allowed? Haven’t the Cardinals reached their quota?
This season began on a bumpy road, but the team had a heroic comeback against the Dallas Cowboys last week, and now sport a new starting quarterback. We will see how that translates on the field.
But there is news surrounding the Cardinals’ opponent. It seems their starting quarterback, Sam Darnold, has been ruled out for the game. It seems that Darnold suffered a rib issue plus a right quadriceps injury late in the game against the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football in the embarrassing 34-17 loss. It has been revealed that Darnold sustained a cracked rib when he was hit on a blitz against Chicago.
His backup is journeyman Drew Lock, who has had some luck in the league since he was drafted in the second round by the Denver Broncos in 2019. Lock was with Seattle from 2022 to 2023, then played for the New York Football Giants for one season, and then signed during the offseason with Seattle again on a two-year deal. He was part of the Seahawks’ 2025 Super Bowl.
But Lock isn’t 100% for the game. He has battled an elbow injury that made him inactive for the past two games. Lock has been dealing with his right elbow for at least the past 3½ weeks, but he was listed as a limited participant all week. He has been throwing in practice on a limited basis for individual periods.
His backup is former Alabama signalcaller Jalen Milroe, who has been listed as the team’s emergency quarterback all season so far. He now steps into the backup role. The Seahawks have listed Adrian Martinez on their practice squad, who will most likely be brought up and slide into that QB3 role against Arizona.
This is Lock’s seventh season. He has played in 43 NFL games with 29 starts and has thrown for 6,791 yards with 38 TDs and 28 INTs. In the blowout win in Week 2 against Arizona, it wasn’t Darnold who blasted the Cardinals’ defense, but Lock, when Darnold had to leave the game. Lock went 19 for 26 for 235 yards and threw three TDs with zero picks. He ended up with a 73.1% completion rate. He has since only played in one other game.
The word from Seahawks camp is that head coach Mike Macdonald is getting both Lock and Milroe ready to play against Arizona.
Milroe played in three games last year as a rookie, but none so far this season. He was a third-round selection in the 2025 NFL Draft. He was a stud while at Alabama, starting 38 games, logging 6,016 passing yards, rushing for 1,577 yards, and scoring a career total of 78 touchdowns.
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