‘Looks healthy to me’ Sam Darnold throws at Seahawks practice for NFC title game
Sam Darnold is progressing, moving — and throwing — away from his injury.
The best news of the Seahawks’ Thursday: Their Pro Bowl quarterback was throwing at the start of it, three days before they host the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC championship at Lumen Field (3:30 p.m. Sunday, FOX Sports, channel 13 locally).
About an hour after his coach Mike Macdonald said he’d like to see Darnold throw passes to test his oblique injury before the game, Darnold was throwing passes t to test his injured, left, non-throwing side. He stood with his feet stationary. They were in line with each other, with his shoulders and chest facing a team assistant, turning only his torso and throwing passes of about 10 yards. Darnold did this just as he and his teammates finished stretching, in the short, initial portion of practice open to the media. The team listed him as a limited participant in practice, for the second consecutive day. Veteran backup Drew Lock took the plays with the first-team offense Darnold missed.
Darnold injured his oblique last Thursday throwing a pass to a receiver without a defender early in practice two days before Seattle hosted San Francisco in the divisional playoffs. Darnold did not throw last week from the moment he felt the pain in practice Thursday until pregame warmups before the game Saturday. He started and completed 12 of 17 passes while the Seahawks rushed for 175 yards in their 41-6 smashing of the 49ers.
This week began with Darnold and his coach saying they were going to have to “navigate” his injury this week.
“He’s not going to be a full-go the whole week, but we have a plan,” Macdonald said. “We’re going to work through it, see how the day goes; then kind of take it day by day...
“But he won’t be like throwing every ball every play for the whole week, no.”
Wednesday, Darnold did the stretching and jogging with his teammates but did not throw in the start of practice open to reporters.
Before practice Thursday, Macdonald said: “He feels better than he did going into the game, and he showed that he could throw then. So you’d like him to get some throws before Sunday.”
Voila!
Darnold was throwing in practice Thursday. Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak said after practice he could tell Darnold is feeling better.
“It shows up when he goes out there and the reps that he gets, he looks like Sam,” Kubiak said. “He looks healthy to me.”
Darnold said Wednesday it was important to him to get those plays in practice this week. He vows to “let it rip” in the title game Sunday.
“I think I’ve been saying it all year: I’m going to turn it loose,” Darnold said. “If it’s there and we get the coverage for the right play and I feel like it’s there, I’m going to let it rip.
“Just being smart with the football is always at a premium. I got to take care of the football at the end of the day, that’s where my mind is at.
“(But) if we get the right coverage and the right play and I feel like a guy is open, I’m going to let it rip.”
Meanwhile Kubiak, Macdonald and the quarterback’s teammates are seeing a new aspect of Darnold: playing through the QB’s first injury since he signed with Seattle last offseason.
What is his play caller learning about Darnold as he plays through pain and rebounds from injury?
“It just reveals his grit and his toughness. That’s nothing that we hadn’t already known. He’s a real leader to be able to fight through that pain and play a good football game.
“And he’s going to keep fighting through it — just like a lot of his teammates. Just like both rosters.
“That’s part of the league, and however many games that we are into right now, nobody’s fresh. No player. No coach. And Sam’s no different.”
Counting on Kenneth Walker
The Seahawks offense will be without second running back Zach Charbonnet Sunday in the title game. The team’s leader with 12 rushing touchdowns this season got a season-ending knee injury against the 49ers last weekend.
Charbonnet’s injury has Kenneth Walker squarely in the lead, featured running-back role for Sunday, for the first time this season. He’s had a job share all season with Charbonnet.
Walker is coming off a 116-yard, three-touchdown night against San Francisco. He joined one-time NFL MVP Shaun Alexander from 2004 as the only Seahawks running backs to rush for three scores in a playoff game.
“We have all the confidence in the world in Ken carrying a bigger load for us,” Kubiak said.
“We’re counting on him.”
This story was originally published January 22, 2026 at 4:36 PM.
