The Seattle Seahawks didn’t miss a beat without their starting quarterback, Sam Darnold. Drew Lock deputized for Darnold and threw three touchdowns to Jaxon Smith-Njigba in Seattle’s 31-7 win over the Arizona Cardinals. While Lock showed he’s more than capable of running the offense in Darnold’s absence, Darnold’s return could happen as early as Week 3 versus the Washington Commanders.
There has been constant speculation and reporting regarding Darnold’s timetable to return from his glute injury,
with the worst case scenario in the 4-6 week timeline. More recent reports have been more optimistic, with Week 4 against the Los Angeles Chargers as the targeted return for Darnold. Based on Mike Macdonald’s comments following Sunday’s game, Darnold may be able to return to practice this week.
“We’re optimistic,” Macdonald said. “We’ll see. I think there’s a chance that he comes back and practices at some point., but I think the timetable has shifted quite drastically in 10 days or whatever. We’ve got 30% of that time to kind of see where it’s going between now and Wednesday.”
Coach Macdonald also added that “it’s possible” he plays against the Commanders. I’m willing to bet that they’ll give Darnold one more week on the sidelines, even if he does get some practice reps in this week.
Worst case scenario was avoided for the Seahawks on multiple fronts. Darnold does not have a long-term injury and Lock was fantastic against the Cardinals. With Dan Quinn’s Commanders pass defense struggling to do almost anything right, Lock could be in for another big afternoon.
