Daniel Jeremiah: How Seahawks could handle a potentially tricky QB situation

With starter Sam Darnold sidelined by a quad injury, Seattle Seahawks backup quarterback Drew Lock is set to start against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

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Lock already had a successful fill-in stint earlier this year after Darnold exited with a glute injury on the opening series of the season. Playing nearly the entirety of Seattle’s first two games, Lock completed 35 of 48 passes for 422 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions, helping lead the Seahawks to victories over the New England Patriots and the Cardinals.

Lock’s efficient performances in those two games were a sharp contrast from Darnold’s spotty play this season. Since returning from his glute injury in Week 3, Darnold has completed just 60.3% of his passes for 1,465 yards, 10 TDs and nine interceptions. Seattle went just 2-4 over that stretch.

One big caveat has been the quality of competition. Lock faced Arizona’s NFL-worst scoring defense, while Darnold has faced four of the league’s top 11 scoring defenses.

But if Lock has another strong performance on Sunday, at what point does he warrant serious consideration for the starting job? NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah was posed that question Thursday on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk.

“I actually think it’s pretty simple,” Jeremiah said. “I think if that’s the scenario that happens, Sam has obviously been dealing with injuries, and you could ride this for quite a while and be like, Sam, we’re going to get you 100% healthy. Drew’s playing well. Let’s ride this thing. We’re going to ride Drew for a little bit here, but we need to just get healthy and your time’s coming.

“Now, if all of a sudden you pull your head up out of the water and Drew Lock has won six games, then at that point in time, how many times have you seen (teams) pivot and say, hey, this was our plan, but he’s playing so well, we’re going to pivot off of that plan?”

What lies ahead

After facing Arizona on Sunday, the Seahawks face the Las Vegas Raiders on Nov. 15 before taking their Week 11 bye. After that, Seattle has a Week 12 showdown against the NFC West-leading San Francisco 49ers on Nov. 29.

Head coach Mike Macdonald said Wednesday that Darnold is “week to week,” which leaves open the possibility he could return next week against Las Vegas. But with Seattle’s bye week just around the corner, it’s quite possible the Seahawks could play it safe and hold Darnold out against the Raiders too.

“It’s not like (Lock) is going to play this week and then you have to decide who your starting quarterback for the rest of the season is,” Jeremiah said. “Sam’s so beat up, like, Sam, we’re going to try and buy you as much time as we can with Drew.

“And if for some reason Drew just plays lights out for three or four games, then you have the uncomfortable conversation. But I think that’s a pretty simple way to deal with it.”

Listen to the full Brock and Salk conversation with NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah at this link or in the audio player near the middle of this story.

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