The Seattle Seahawks had an injury scare with quarterback Sam Darnold in the week leading up to the divisional round game against the San Francisco 49ers.
Darnold came down with an oblique injury during practice on Thursday that led to him being a limited participant in practice and drawing the questionable tag for Saturday.
This is obviously a huge concern for the Seahawks, as Darnold is crucial to their hopes of beating the Niners in the divisional round.
Here’s what we know about Darnold’s status for Saturday.
Is Sam Darnold playing tonight?
UPDATE: Darnold has not been spotted on the field during pre-game warm-ups, which could be a bad sign for his chances of suiting up.
Inactives will be released in about 15 minutes from the moment of this writing, so we’ll find out soon enough if he’ll play.
END OF UPDATE
UPDATE: According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Seahawks “believe” that Darnold will be able to play on Saturday night, but “don’t know” for sure.
Schefter adds that Darnold hasn’t thrown a football since coming down with his oblique injury on Thursday.
“Seahawks QB Sam Darnold hasn’t thrown a football since he hurt his oblique Thursday. The Seahawks believe, but don’t know, that he will be OK to start tonight’s game vs. the 49ers,” Schefter reported. “Backup QB Drew Lock took the reps the past two days and is ready if needed.”
This only adds to the concern that if Darnold does suit up, he won’t be operating at 100%.
END OF UPDATE
Yes, Darnold is expected to suit up against the Niners on Saturday night.
While the team hasn’t confirmed his status, Darnold told reporters there was a “close to zero-percent chance” he wouldn’t play.
“I felt a little something in my oblique,” Darnold said of his injury. “Just didn’t want to push it, wasn’t the day to push it. That was it. Just came inside, got some rehab and feel like I’ll be ready to play Saturday.”
We’ll get final confirmation on Darnold’s status an hour and a half before kickoff, when the Seahawks and Niners release their inactives.
Even though Darnold is likely to play, the concern is that he may not be 100%, which could impact his performance.
The risk of further injury that knocks him out of the game is also something to be worried about.
If anything happens to Darnold, the Seahawks have Drew Lock as his backup. Lock has never played in a postseason game during his career.