The Seattle Seahawks are licking their wounds after being thrashed by the Chicago Bears on Monday night... quite literally. On Wednesday morning, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald dropped quite the bombshell by announcing starting quarterback Sam Darnold is officially OUT for Seattle's Week 9 game against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
Backup quarterback Drew Lock will once again see action as the starter. Sunday will be Lock's second start of the season. Interestingly, his only other start this year came against the Arizona Cardinals back in Week 2.
Sam Darnold apparently injured his quad late in the blowout loss to Chicago, and even cracked a rib of the second play of the game. Darnold is well known for his toughness, and played the rest
of the game without the team realizing he was hurt.
Sam Darnold also cracked his rib on the second play of the Chicago game then played the entirety of it. #Seahawks didn’t know until after the game.
— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) November 4, 2026
Mike Macdonald says the quad injury is what is primarily keeping him out for Sunday vs Arizona and having Drew Lock start. https://t.co/S5zbSaoCNO
Drew Lock has played incredibly well in limited action this year. Although he didn't start Week 1, he played basically the entire game, since Darnold was hurt after only five plays. Lock has thrown for 422 yards and four touchdowns without turning the ball over once.
While I have absolutely no reason to doubt Macdonald's statement about Darnold's injury, one can't help but wonder... if maybe... just maybe... this is somewhat of a soft benching. Darnold has not performed well this season, barely completing 60% of his passes with ten touchdown passes against nine interceptions. He has thrown at least one pick in every game he has started this year. The tin foil hat wearers among us might begin to hypothesize if this is a way for Seattle to maybe get another chance to see if Lock can be an improvement without fully benching Darnold, which would likely signal the end of his tenure in Seattle if we are being completely honest.
All I know is if Lock performs well and the Seahawks offense looks much improved, things could get sticky. The loudest voices among the 12's calling for him to start will have more evidence in their favor.
This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: Seahawks QB Sam Darnold OUT for Week 9 vs Cardinals, Drew Lock to start
