The reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks are on a mission to repeat. And in doing so, they're clearly taking the long-term view of a 17-game-plus season with currently injured starting quarterback Sam Darnold.
The Seahawks have already ruled out Darnold ahead of Week 2's matchup with the Arizona Cardinals because of his glute injury. That isn't surprising. What is interesting is that even though Darnold will have now effectively missed two games, the Seahawks have no imminent plans to put him on injured reserve, which would force him to miss a minimum of another four games.
That suggests that the Seahawks are simply giving their quarterback some much-needed rest before he likely returns in Week 3 or even Week 4 at the absolute latest:
Seahawks ruled out QB Sam Darnold for Sunday’s game vs. the Cardinals due to his glute injury. The team currently has no plans to place Darnold on IR. pic.twitter.com/TMAfZK27mE
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 16, 2026
That is an encouraging sign for where Darnold stands, to say the least. It also says the Seahawks aren't all that pressed about Drew Lock's chances of taking the team to 2-0 by beating the Cardinals. Though, given how the physical, defensively minded Seahawks like to play, I probably wouldn't start Lock in fantasy football, for what it's worth. That's a bridge too far.
When might Sam Darnold start again for the Seahawks?
At this rate, I'd venture to guess we'll likely see Darnold start on the road against the Washington Commanders in Week 3. If he misses that game, a home date with the Los Angeles Chargers in October might be a lock.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Sam Darnold won't play in Week 2 but Seahawks have given clear sign his injury isn't serious
