NFL insider: ‘At least a chance’ Seahawks QB Sam Darnold plays in Week 3

The Seattle Seahawks will almost certainly be without starting quarterback Sam Darnold for their Week 2 game in Arizona, but it’s possible that could be the only full game he misses with his “unique” glute injury.

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NFL insider Ian Rapoport of ESPN and NFL Network provided an optimistic view of Darnold’s injury status when he joined The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday.

“The Commanders game in Week 3 is 17 days from when the Seahawks played (in Week 1). There is at least a chance he plays in that game,” Rapoport said, referring to Seattle’s road game at Washington on Sunday, Sept. 27. “So I would say (Darnold is) probably missing one or two games, which is a really, really good outcome.”

Darnold played just one offensive series in Seattle’s season-opening win over the New England Patriots last Wednesday, as he was ruled out for the remainder of the game and went to the hospital for testing on what was initially called a hip injury. The Seahawks said on Monday that Darnold has a “very unique” and “short-term” soft-tissue injury in his glute, and that his hip joint is unaffected by the injury.

That assuages any fears that Darnold’s injury was anything like the devastating hip injury suffered by Tua Tagovailoa in 2019 when he was Alabama’s quarterback.

“(Danold’s injury was) kind of jarry and weird and strange, but he hurt his butt, which is actually a great outcome because in the hip socket, it seems to be absolutely fine,” Rapoport said. “Everyone on the internet is basically assuming he’s got like the Tua injury. This was not that, or not even close. … This is sort of the problem with injury reporting now is it looked awful, and then the actual outcome, you get all the tests and it’s like, eh, pulled a muscle.”

Rapoport added that he believes Darnold injured one of the smaller glute muscles, and not his gluteus maximus muscle.

Another NFL insider, Mike Garafolo, also discussed Darnold’s injury on Tuesday when he joined NFL Network’s Good Morning Football. His timeline for a Darnold return was a bit more conservative than Rapoport’s, but not by much.

“From my understanding, you’re looking at about a four-week return to play here. It could potentially be a little bit sooner than that,” Garafolo said. “… Looking like the timeline is going to be right in line with a couple of weeks here for Sam Darnold, but returning to play in the near future.”

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