Sam Darnold’s hip injury from Wednesday’s Seattle Seahawks season opener sent him for an MRI Thursday morning, and the resulting news was more encouraging than might have been expected.
“Darnold is expected to miss next week’s game, but he should be back sooner, rather than later, sources say,” reported NFL insider Ian Rapoport. “Could be just a few weeks.”
A source close to the Darnold situation believes the Seahawks “dodged a bullet,” according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, another top NFL insider.
The uncertainty nonetheless leaves Seattle’s offense in a state of uncertainty as the defending Super Bowl champions open their title defense. In Wednesday night’s win over the New England Patriots, the offense quarterbacked by backup Drew Lock scored only 13 points.
In their Super Bowl-winning 2025 season, the Seahawks averaged 28.4 points per game in the regular season.
Darnold’s Injury Reshapes Early Super Bowl Rematch
The injury struck early in Wednesday’s Super Bowl LX rematch against the Patriots at Lumen Field. Seattle took the opening possession, and on the fifth play of the drive, facing third-and-6, Patriots defensive lineman Dre’Mont Jones sacked Darnold, driving the quarterback down onto his right side, according to a report from CBS Sports.
Darnold had completed just 1 of 2 passes for 13 yards before the hit. He waved off trainers, disappeared into the medical tent, then emerged with a limp and walked to the locker room. Seattle listed him questionable before ruling him out before halftime, turning the offense over to Lock.
Lock delivered, completing 16 of 22 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown, a 45-yard strike to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, while Seattle’s defense intercepted Patriots quarterback Drake Maye three times in the fourth quarter of a 13-10 comeback win, according to The Athletic’s recap of the game.
Coach Mike Macdonald called initial X-ray and CT results at Harborview Medical Center “great” and “positive,” though Schefter reported the CT findings were “encouraging but inconclusive,” according to a second Schefter online report.
Seattle Seahawks’ Outlook Without Sam Darnold
Darnold threw for 4,048 yards and 25 touchdowns in 2025 while starting 34 straight regular-season games.
Lock, 29, is in his second stint with Seattle after signing a two-year deal in 2025, with prior starting experience with the Denver Broncos and New York Giants. Teammates describe him as a meticulous preparer who diagrams plays on a whiteboard beside his bed, according to USA Today’s report on Lock.
If the absence runs a week or two, Seattle’s line continuity and Smith-Njigba’s playmaking should limit the drop-off behind a defense already forcing takeaways. A longer layoff would test the offense’s explosiveness far more. Seattle’s next game arrives Sept. 20 against Arizona, and the medical staff still has to finish reviewing Thursday’s scan before a confirmed timetable emerges for Darnold’s return.
Sam Darnold’s Hip Injury and NFL Quarterback Risk
True intra-articular hip damage — labral tears, femoroacetabular impingement, fractures or dislocations — hits linemen more often than quarterbacks. The hip drives a passer’s plant-foot stability, torso rotation and ability to escape pressure. Even a bruise can wreck a throwing motion.
Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa fractured and dislocated his hip at Alabama in a scare that briefly threatened his career, then years later missed just two games with the Dolphins from a lesser muscular issue.
Research on NFL players who underwent hip arthroscopy found return rates between 79% and 93%, with recovery spanning six to seven months, according to a sports medicine journal study. The Bo Jackson scenario, structural damage risking avascular necrosis, remains the true worst case, according to an analysis of hip injury history. With a fracture ruled out, a strain, contusion or labral issue looks far more likely for Darnold.
Seahawks Get Sam Darnold Injury Update From NFL Insider After Patriots Game