RENTON, Wash. — Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said Friday that he is “really optimistic” Sam Darnold will play Saturday against the San Francisco 49ers despite a new oblique injury, echoing what the Pro Bowl quarterback said a day earlier.
But in his final comments before the Seahawks’ divisional round playoff game against their NFC West rival, Macdonald left open the possibility that the injury could take a turn either before or after the 8 p.m. ET kickoff.
The Seahawks listed Darnold as questionable Thursday after he left practice earlier in the day when he felt something in his left side. He told reporters roughly two hours later that he expects to play.
“Talking about Sam, I heard what he said yesterday to you guys; I see it the same way,” Macdonald told reporters Friday. “We’re listing him as questionable. Really optimistic he’s going to be able to play. Right now we’re going through all the protocol … just out of caution to make sure we’re ready to go. We’ll test it out tomorrow and kind of make the final decision, but again, we’re optimistic he’s going to play.
“If he doesn’t, or at some point he doesn’t, then [Drew Lock is] ready to go, and that’s why Drew’s here. He’s doing a great job.”
The Seahawks held a walk-through Friday, as they typically do the day before a game. Macdonald gave a nonanswer when asked whether Darnold threw during the session. While the coach was speaking to reporters on the sideline of the team’s indoor practice facility, Darnold and Lock were walking through plays on the field with wide receiver Jake Bobo. Darnold was seen making only light, underhanded tosses.
Macdonald was asked whether Darnold was better physically Friday.
“He says he feels better,” Macdonald said. “But you talked to him. He’s confident that he’s going to be able to play. We feel the same way.”
Is there any thought that he could be at all limited Saturday?
“Well, yeah, it’s a possibility,” Macdonald said. “I think right now he’s confident that he’s going to be able to go do his thing at 100 percent. We are too. But with these things, something could change between now and then or something could happen in-game. So we kind of just have to roll with it.”
Lock, a seventh-year veteran with a 10-18 record in 28 career starts, is Darnold’s backup. Jalen Milroe, a rookie third-round pick, is Seattle’s QB3. Milroe has been inactive as a healthy scratch for the past 12 games, though he has continued to suit up as the emergency third quarterback.
Darnold told reporters that he “felt a little something” in the oblique on his left side Thursday while throwing during a routes-on-air period and that he left practice as a precautionary measure. Seattle listed him as a limited participant that day.
“Just didn’t want to push it,” Darnold said. “Wasn’t the day to push it. So that was it. Just came inside, got some rehab, and I feel like I’ll be ready to go for Saturday.”
Darnold was asked what percent of him thinks he might not play Saturday.
“Very low percentage,” he said. “Probably closer to zero.”
Darnold said he has never dealt with an oblique injury and that he will get more treatment between now and game time, adding: “We’ll attack it the next couple days and be ready to go for Saturday.”
Aside from Darnold’s questionable status, the only other Seattle players with game designations are tight end Elijah Arroyo, linebacker Chazz Surratt and tackle Josh Jones, all backups who have been ruled out. Left tackle Charles Cross and safety Coby Bryant will return after missing three and two games, respectively.
Cross was limited Wednesday because of a new knee injury but returned to full participation Thursday.
“Just kind of got tangled up a little bit in practice,” Macdonald said of Cross. “So we’re working through it. He’s good to go. It’s more of a precautionary thing than anything.”
Darnold, signed by the Seahawks in March after they traded Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders, is set to make the second playoff start of his eight-year NFL career. He echoed a sentiment shared earlier this week by Macdonald about not getting lost in the hype of the postseason.
“We’re treating it [as] just another week, another game,” Darnold said. “… We’ve got such great guys in that locker room, mature leaders at every position group. So everyone’s just ready to go, attacking the week, per usual, and getting ready to go up against a really good 49ers team that’s been rolling, and we’re excited to go up against them.”
Darnold and the Seahawks beat the 49ers in Week 18 at Levi’s Stadium to win the NFC West and secure the conference’s top seed. With that win, Seattle finished the regular season 14-3, the same record Darnold posted last year with the Minnesota Vikings on his way to his first career Pro Bowl selection.
He made the Pro Bowl again this year after completing 67.7% of his passes for 4,048 yards and 25 touchdowns while also committing an NFL-high 20 turnovers.
Darnold lost his playoff debut last January when he was sacked nine times in a wild-card loss to the Los Angeles Rams. He said the Week 18 win over the 49ers felt like a playoff game because of everything that was at stake and how loud the crowd was at Levi’s Stadium.
The Seahawks will have home-field advantage in the rematch.
“Being able to use cadence is going to be huge, and then having our 12s there making noise when they’re on offense is crucial,” Darnold said. “So it’s going to be an awesome atmosphere and something we’re all looking forward to.”
This will be the first playoff game at Lumen Field with fans in the stands since January 2017. The Seahawks’ only other home playoff game since then was at the end of the 2020 COVID-19 season, when they lost in the wild-card round to the Rams in an empty stadium.
“We know Lumen’s going to be rocking,” Darnold said. “It’s an important game. We don’t get it twisted at all. We understand the implications of the game. The playoffs, it’s awesome to be playing in games like this, especially in January. But yeah, we’re treating this week as another week, and we’re excited about it.”
