Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold remained a limited participant in Thursday’s practice as he continues to nurse an oblique injury.
Darnold popped up on last Thursday’s injury report after tweaking his left oblique early in practice while warming up. He was questionable, but started and played 47 snaps before turning it over to Drew Lock to finish in mop-up duty.
Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said earlier Thursday that he is optimistic that starting left tackle Charles Cross will play against the Rams. Cross, though, remained out of practice with his foot injury.
Cross missed the final three games of the regular season with a hamstring injury and injured a knee last week in practice before leaving with a foot injury in Saturday’s playoff win over the 49ers.
The second- and third-string offensive tackles — Josh Jones (knee, ankle) and Amari Kight (knee) — also again didn’t practice.
Guard Bryce Cabeldue (knee) and fullback Robbie Ouzts (neck) remained limited for a second consecutive day.
Edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence (rest), linebacker Uchenna Nwosu (hamstring), wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (rest) and defensive lineman Leonard Williams (rest) returned to full participation after limited work on Wednesday.
Tight end Elijah Arroyo (knee), running back George Holani (hamstring), linebacker Tyrice Knight (shoulder) and linebacker Chazz Surratt (ankle) again were full participants.
The Rams had only one change to their practice report on Thursday.
Safety Quentin Lake, who missed Wednesday’s practice with an illness, returned to full participation.
Outside linebacker Byron Young (knee) remained out of practice.
Coach Sean McVay said earlier this week that he expects Young to play. Young’s knee soreness limited him to only 35 of 81 snaps against the Bears in the divisional round, and he likely will be on a snap count if he plays Sunday.
Josiah Stewart and Desjuan Johnson saw more playing time in the divisional round.
Cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Jr. (shoulder) again was limited. He played only four snaps in last week’s game.
Outside linebacker Josaiah Stewart (knee) remained a full participant.
Offensive lineman Rob Havenstein (ankle) returned to practice on Thursday, with a limited session. The Rams opened Havenstein’s 21-day practice window.
The Rams are getting a veteran offensive lineman back on the practice field.
Via Greg Beacham of the Associated Press, Los Angeles has opened the 21-day practice window for right tackle Rob Havenstein.
Havenstein has been out with ankle and knee issues since mid-November. He has not played since the team’s Week 11 win over the Seahawks, with Warren McClendon taking over at the position and playing well to help L.A. reach the NFC Championship Game.
Because his practice window just opened on Thursday, it appears unlikely that he’ll be available to play in Sunday’s matchup against Seattle. But should the Rams advance to Super Bowl LX, Havenstein could be an option.
Havenstein has started 148 games for the Rams since the club selected him in the second round of the 2015 draft.
The Seahawks’ first injury report of the week appeared to present a big challenge for the team heading into the NFC Championship. The team’s top three left tackles did not participate in Wednesday’s practice.
Charles Cross returned from hamstring and knee injuries to start in Saturday’s divisional playoff win over the 49ers. He played only 36 of 53 snaps, though, before leaving with a foot injury.
Coach Mike Macdonald expressed optimism that Cross will play Sunday.
“Charles is good,” Macdonald said, via Cameron Van Til of Seattle Sports. “We’ll see how today goes, but we’re optimistic for the game.”
Cross missed three games with a hamstring injury, returning for last week’s practice, when he injured a knee. Now, he has a foot injury.
Macdonald said backup left tackle Josh Jones (knee/ankle) and third-stringer Amari Kight (knee) are “day-to-day” after they were non-participants on Wednesday.
Jones started at left tackle for the three games Cross missed, and Kight finished Saturday’s game at left tackle after Cross was injured.
Macdonald declined to reveal the Seahawks’ contingency plans if Cross, Jones and Kight can’t play Sunday.
“We have a plan for it,” Macdonald said. “I don’t really want to say what we’d do, but we have a plan for it.”
The NFC Championship Game will feature a rare playoff matchup of the NFL’s No. 1 scoring offense and the NFL’s No. 1 scoring defense.
The Rams led the NFL by scoring 30.5 points per game in 2025, while the Seahawks led the NFL by allowing 17.2 points per game. That makes Sunday’s meeting just the third conference championship game in NFL history that matches the top scoring offense against the top scoring defense.
The previous two times were the 2014 NFC Championship Game, in which the Packers had the No. 1 offense and Seahawks had the No. 1 defense, and the 1980 NFC Championship Game, in which the Cowboys had the No. 1 offense and the Eagles had the No. 1 defense.
In both of those cases, defense won the NFC Championship: The Seahawks represented the NFC in the Super Bowl after the 2014 season, and the Eagles represented the NFC in the Super Bowl after the 1980 season.
The Seahawks will hope that history repeats itself on Sunday.
