With the Seattle Seahawks, there might not be a teammate who knows quarterback Sam Darnold better than veteran defensive lineman Leonard Williams.
Although their college tenures didn’t overlap, they each played at USC. Darnold and Williams then both started their NFL careers with the New York Jets.
Williams has personally seen Darnold had his highest points in football — 4-star college recruit and Super Bowl champion — and his lowest — losing his job and traded in New York.
Thursday night might be a low point of Darnold’s tenure with the Seahawks. The team has lost two in a row for the first time with Darnold behind center, and the veteran quarterback has thrown four interceptions in the past two games.
After the 17-14 loss Thursday night, though, Williams left little doubt that he still believes in his longtime friend.
“I have a personal relationship with Sam. I’ve been around him since college,” Williams told reporters Thursday night. “We’ve been on multiple teams together. Luckily, I have that relationship where I can approach him and talk about whatever.
“But I feel like, we all trust him, I feel like he trusts in himself. I feel like he will get out of it.”
Sam Darnold, Seahawks Struggling With Ball Security
There are potentially a few things not quite right at the moment with the Seahawks, at least if one compares them to last year’s juggernaut team. But the biggest issue, particularly the past two weeks, has been turnovers.
The Seahawks have turned the ball over seven times in their last two losses. Darnold had two more interceptions Thursday night, both of which came either late in the fourth quarter or overtime.
“No way to sugarcoat it. That one sucked,” said Darnold. “Can’t turn the ball over. It’s obviously at the forefront of my mind, but there’s just a lot we can do better.
“Obviously, we’re driving, we’re running the ball, and we’re dropping back and having some things work in the drop back game. Some of the play-action stuff was a little iffy tonight.
“But yes, we just have to be better all around, and it starts with me.”
Williams appreciated Darnold took ownership of his mistakes. So did other Seahawks players, including wide receiver Cooper Kupp.
But Kupp stressed while speaking to reporters that his quarterback shouldn’t have to shoulder all the blame.
“We’re all out there with him, and we all have a responsibility in this. We all play a role in protecting [the] football,” said Kupp.
“I know he’s going to own that because that’s who he is, but we are not doing a good enough job offensively to allow him to play in rhythm.”
Darnold ended Thursday night’s game with bloody elbows because of the number of times he landed on the ground. The Broncos sacked Darnold five times and registered 17 quarterback hits.
It’s hard to expect a quarterback to protect the ball when he’s getting hit that much.
The Seahawks, though, will have a few extra days to analyze what went wrong the past two games. Then, the team will turn the page fully confident, as Williams is, that Darnold will play better the rest of the season.
Seahawks’ Leonard Williams Speaks out on Sam Darnold After Broncos Loss