Sam Darnold entered the NFL with massive expectations as the No. 3 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. After playing for three teams in his first six NFL seasons, Darnold enjoyed a breakout season with the Minnesota Vikings in 2024. In 2025, he signed a three-year deal with the Seattle Seahawks and led them to a Super Bowl championship.
On the fifth play in Seattle’s season opener against the New England Patriots, Darnold went down with an injury. It appeared serious at first, but it was later revealed to be a glute injury that would keep him out for a few weeks. That’s much better than the initial fears.
On Sunday, the Seahawks face the 0-2 Washington Commanders, who lost their quarterback, Jayden Daniels, to a dislocated left (non-throwing)
elbow. Ironically, it was against Seattle in 2025, when Daniels dislocated his elbow for the first time.
While the Commanders will be without Daniels on Sunday, the Seahawks may get Darnold back.
“Right now, the plan is for him to be out there in some capacity, and we’ll go from there,” Macdonald said on Monday, via Brady Henderson of ESPN. “How much, we’ll see from here to Wednesday on what that number is. But right now, that’s the goal.”
Henderson noted that Macdonald said on a Seattle radio station that “there is a chance” that Darnold plays against the Commanders.
While Drew Lock was played extremely well for the 2-0 Seahawks in Darnold’s absence, it would be a boost to have Darnold back. Does anyone remember what happened last season when Darnold faced the Commanders in Washington? Darnold didn’t even throw an incompletion until the third quarter. By then, he’d already thrown four touchdowns and finished the game completing 21 of 24 passes for 330 yards, with four touchdowns and an interception in Seattle’s 38-14 win.
Coming off the Commanders’ disastrous defensive performance against the Cowboys in Week 2, more bad news could be on the way for Washington.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: More bad news could be coming for the Commanders in Week 3
