The Seattle Seahawks can breathe a sigh of relief following a frightening injury to quarterback Sam Darnold, though the team remains cautious about his long term timeline. Head coach Mike Macdonald confirmed during his postgame press conference on Wednesday night that initial medical evaluations have ruled out a hip fracture, providing a glimmer of hope for both the coaching staff and the fanbase. While the news is positive, Macdonald emphasized that they are still in the process of determining the exact nature of the injury.
The scare began early in the first quarter when Darnold was sacked on third down to close out Seattle’s opening possession. After visibly limping off the field and spending time in the sideline medical tent, Darnold was eventually taken to Harborview Medical Center for immediate imaging. Reports from ESPN and NFL Network indicated that while both an X-ray and a CT scan showed no broken bones, further diagnostics are required to see if any soft tissue damage occurred.
Macdonald expressed deep affection for his quarterback and praised how the rest of the roster stepped up in Darnold’s absence. He described the current situation as good news but reminded reporters that there is still work to do before a final diagnosis is reached. To get those answers, Darnold is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Thursday, which will provide a clearer picture of whether he faces a short term recovery or something more significant.
Because of this lingering uncertainty, Macdonald refused to speculate on whether Darnold will be available for next week’s clash against Arizona. For now, the organization is focusing on getting all the data from Thursday’s testing before making any decisions regarding their depth chart for Week 2. Until then, the Seahawks are operating under a cloud of anticipation, hoping that avoiding a fracture means a swift return to action for their signal caller.
