Drew Lock starts for Seahawks despite Geno Smith being active

Things got very interesting for the Seattle Seahawks before kickoff against the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football when it came to the quarterback position.

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Regular starting quarterback Geno Smith, who was questionable with a groin injury that kept him out of last week’s game in San Francisco, did enough in early warmups to be active. But that doesn’t mean he’s starting against the Eagles in a big game for the 6-8 Seahawks, who have lost their last four games and five of their last six.

Instead, Seattle’s QB for the night is Drew Lock, who started last week, completing over 70% of his passes with two touchdowns and two interceptions in a loss to the 49ers.

After Smith was officially deemed active, Lock took all first-team reps in warmups while Sean Mannion, who was activated from the practice squad for this game, worked as the second-team quarterback. When all Seahawks players were out and in uniform for warmups, Smith was nowhere to be seen.

During his pregame radio interview on Seattle Sports, Seahawks general manager John Schneider told Steve Raible that Smith’s pregame warmup surprised the team, but he wouldn’t commit to Smith starting, noting that Lock worked with the first team in practice this week.

Monday is Lock’s second start for the Seahawks in his second year in Seattle. Lock was part of the Russell Wilson trade in March of 2022 with the Denver Broncos, but he lost the quarterback competition to Smith in the summer of 2022 and the preseason.

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