The Patriots lead the Seahawks 7-0 at halftime, but Seattle has a bigger concern moving forward.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold exited the game after the first series with a hip injury. He appeared to suffer it when he was sacked by Dre’Mont Jones on third down, which brought up a punt.
Darnold limped to the sideline before he was eventually examined in the medical tent. He then limped off the field up to the locker room for further evaluation.
Just before halftime, the Seahawks ruled him out.
Backup Drew Lock played the rest of the first half for Seattle. So far, he’s completed 6-of-8 passes for 51 yards. But the Seahawks have also struggled to move the ball, registering six first downs.
On the other side, Drake Maye has been a lot more effective than he was against Seattle’s defense in Super Bowl LX back in February. He’s gotten off some quick passes and used his legs effectively to scramble. Though Maye’s most productive pass was one that wasn’t even completed — as newcomer A.J. Brown drew a defensive pass interference penalty that put the Patriots at Seattle’s 2-yard line.
On the next play, Maye tossed a 2-yard touchdown to rookie tight end Eli Rairdon for the NFL’s first touchdown of 2026.
Maye finished the first half 10-of-12 for 66 yards with a touchdown.
The Patriots have 10 first downs, 130 yards, and are 3-of-7 on third down.
Seattle has 120 yards and is 1-of-6 on third down. They may want to have a heavy dose of rookie Jadarian Price in the second half, who has 42 yards on his six carries in his debut.
The Patriots will receive the second-half kickoff.
Patriots Clips
The Patriots have scored the first touchdown of the 2026 season.
Rookie tight end Eli Rairdon caught the first pass of his career for a 2-yard TD, giving New England a 7-0 lead midway through the second quarter.
Another Patriots newcomer, AJ Brown, set up the score by drawing a pass interference penalty on cornerback Josh Jobe on the snap before. Quarterback Drake Maye had Brown open on a flea flicker, but with the ball underthrown, Brown jumped up and Jobe hit him before the the ball arrived.
The score concluded a 10-play, 77-yard drive that took 5:37 off the clock.
So far, Brown has two catches for 12 yards in his Patriots debut.
Maye is 7-of-8 for 44 yards. He’s also rushed for 20 yards on four carries.
On the other side, Sam Darnold is questionable to return with a hip injury suffered at the end of Seattle’s first possession of the season. Backup Drew Lock has come in to play QB for the Seahawks.
The Seahawks already have an injury concern with their quarterback.
Sam Darnold has headed to the locker room with an apparent leg injury suffered on the first drive of the season.
Drew Lock has come in on Seattle’s second drive to replace him.
Sam Darnold came up limping at the end of Seattle’s first possession after he was sacked by Dre’Mont Jones.
While cameras initially showed Darnold standing on the sideline, he eventually went into the sideline medical tent during New England’s first offensive series.
He then limped back to the locker room for further examination.
Darnold completed one of his two passes for 13 yards on the first drive.
The Seahawks and Patriots are tied 0-0 midway through the first quarter.
UPDATE 8:44 p.m. ET: The Seahawks announced that Darnold is questionable to return with a hip injury.
Safety Nick Emmanwori will not play the season opener tonight.
He is among the Seahawks’ inactives.
Safety Ty Okada (hamstring) also will not play, having been ruled out ahead of the game.
Emmanwori did not participate in any of the team’s open practices during camp as he works his way back from arthroscopic surgery in July to repair his right ankle. He initially injured the ankle during the 2025 season opener and then aggravated it in a Super Bowl LX practice.
Wide receiver Tory Horton (hamstring), quarterback Jalen Milroe, offensive guard Beau Stephens, tight end Nick Kallerup and defensive lineman Mike Morris are the Seahawks’ other inactives. Milroe will serve as the emergency third quarterback.
The Patriots’ inactives are center Ben Brown (knee), cornerback Karon Prunty, linebacker Erick Hunte, quarterback Behren Morton, running back TreVeyon Henderson (ankle), offensive lineman Walter Rouse and wide receiver Efton Chism III. Morton will serve as the emergency third quarterback.
The Seahawks have made a few moves in advance of Wednesday night’s season opener against the Patriots.
Seattle announced the club has signed safety AJ Finely to the 53-man roster off of the practice squad. To make room on the roster, the club waived guard Bryce Cabeldue.
Finley adds depth to the defensive backfield with starting safety Ty Okada out with a hamstring injury and defensive back Nick Emmanwori (ankle) listed as questionable for the contest.
Finley appeared in four games for the Seahawks last year, mainly playing special teams.
Additionally, the team has elevated safety Rodney Thomas II and running back Velus Jones Jr. from the practice squad to the gameday roster.
Kickoff for the season opener is slated for 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.
Earlier this week, while being peppered with questions about the ongoing investigation at the North Carolina football program, Tar Heels coach Bill Belichick pointed to “our high standard here of our code of conduct and doing things the right way.”
They had a lapse in that standard last year, which will keep the program from hosting any recruits at their regular-season home opener.
Via Noah Weiskopf of 247sports.com, the situation traces to the 2025 suspension of defensive backs coach Armond Hawkins for violating NCAA rules regarding extra benefits.
“Last season we self-reported a violation through our normal university compliance measures,” the school said in a statement. “As a result, we are unable to host unofficial visits this weekend versus ETSU. We are still permitted to host official visits this weekend but have decided as a program to concentrate our official visits on the remaining five home games. The situation has been properly resolved through the NCAA process, and we have worked with the NCAA and University compliance on appropriate and corrective action.”
The bigger concern relates to the probe that triggered the resignation of G.M. Mike Lombardi, following more than a month on paid leave. Defensive coordinator Steve Belichick, who is currently on medical leave, is also reportedly being investigated, along with others who have not yet been named.
The Patriots announced a pair of elevations from their practice squad for Wednesday night’s opener against the Seahawks.
Running back Lan Larison and punter Mitch Wishnowsky have both been added to the roster. They will revert back to the practice squad after the game in Seattle.
Larison signed with the Patriots after going undrafted last year and spent the season on injured reserve. He returned to the practice squad after being waived at the end of August.
The Patriots will not have TreVeyon Henderson on Wednesday due to an ankle injury, so Larison joins Rhamondre Stevenson and Corey Kiner in the backfield.
Wishnowsky will take the place of Bryce Baringer, who is currently on the injured reserve list for New England.
As the Patriots prepare to play their first game after an offseason that presented an unexpected distraction, the issue will have at least one more development, eventually.
The New York Post, which pulled the first pin on the Dianna Russini-Mike Vrabel grenade five months and two days ago, reports that Russini will tell her side of the story upon taking her next job.
The goal, per the report, will be to “speak on the matter and move past it once and for all.”
Whether she’ll ever truly move past it remains to be seen. If/when she reactivates her Twitter account, any and all reporting or commentary will be met with a torrent of the cesspool-style responses for which the platform is notorious.
The bigger question will be the content of her side of the story. Depending on what she says, it could spark more questions and potential scrutiny of Vrabel, who has emerged from the scandal largely unscathed professionally.
Then there’s the matter of whether her side of the story will be viewed as credible. Given her strong denials, coupled with Vrabel’s ensuing words and actions (e.g., missing the third day of the draft for counseling), a continued insistence that there was and is nothing to see here could be hard for most to accept, given the photos and video everyone by now has seen.
Complicating matters, when it comes to believing whatever she may say, is the claim that she FaceTimed a coach to get her out of a ticket for texting while driving. The bodycam footage showed that this simply did not happen.
Before anyone knows whether to believe what she says, they’ll need to hear what she has to say. It could be a tough sell. And if it’s handled with the same degree of P.R. acumen that accompanied the early days of the controversy, it could ultimately make things worse, not better.
Running back TreVeyon Henderson will not be in the lineup for the Patriots in Seattle on Wednesday night.
Henderson has missed the last two weeks of practice with an ankle injury, so it came as no surprise that the Patriots officially ruled him out for their season opener on Tuesday. The Patriots previously announced that offensive lineman Ben Brown will miss the game with a knee injury and no other players have injury designations.
Rhamondre Stevenson and Corey Kiner are the other running backs on the 53-man roster for New England. Hassan Haskins and Lan Larison are available to be elevated from the practice squad.
The Patriots will also be summoning punter Mitch Wishnowsky from the practice squad as they are currently without a punter on their active roster.
The Seahawks will be without one member of their secondary while another may not be able to play in Wednesday’s season opener against the Patriots.
Seattle announced on Tuesday that safety Nick Emmanwori is questionable for the contest while safety Ty Okada is out.
Emmanwori is returning from offseason ankle surgery. He’s been limited in practice this week.
Okada has a hamstring injury and did not participate in practice this week.
Additionally, receiver Rory Horton (hamstring) is questionable after being listed as limited in practice.
Tight end AJ Barner (oblique), guard Anthony Bradford (knee), offensive lineman Josh Jones (knee), cornerback Julian Neal (quad), and running back Emanuel Wilson (hamstring) are all off the injury report with no game status and are expected to play.
