Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold is active for Saturday night’s divisional round game against the 49ers. That didn’t seem to be in question despite his questionable injury designation.
The question is: Will Darold’s oblique injury allow him to do what he needs to do for as long as he needs to do it?
According to a report, Darnold has not thrown since the injury occurred while he was warming up for Thursday’s practice.
Drew Lock is the team’s backup, with Jalen Milroe among the inactives. The rookie Milroe will serve as the emergency third quarterback.
The Seahawks’ other inactives are linebacker Jared Ivey, offensive lineman Josh Jones (knee), offensive guard Bryce Cabeldue, offensive lineman Mason Richman and defensive end Rylie Mills.
The 49ers will have wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, who missed the past two games after aggravating his knee injury in the Week 17 game against the Bears.
The 49ers’ inactives are defensive lineman Robert Beal, safety Ji’Ayir Brown (hamstring), defensive lineman Kevin Givens, running back Isaac Guerendo, offensive lineman Brandon Parker, defensive lineman Sebastian Valdez and wide receiver Jordan Watkins.
The clue was hiding in plain sight (even if I missed it), from the transcript of Friday’s Mike MacDonald press conference.
Asked whether quarterback Sam Darnold, who injured an oblique muscle during practice on Thursday, threw on Friday, Macdonald was evasive: “It’s a walk-through tempo, so it’s part of our plan right now on how we handled today.”
He didn’t say yes. He didn’t say no. And the answer reportedly was no.
Via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, Darnold hasn’t thrown since suffering the injury. Backup Drew Lock took the remainder of the reps on Thursday and all of them on Friday.
The Seahawks remain optimistic that Darnold will be able to play. We’ll find out sooner enough whether he can start, and then whether he can finish.
San Francisco 49ers right tackle Colton McKivitz says there’s no question in his mind that he plays for the best coach in the NFL.
McKivitz, who has been in San Francisco since 2020, says 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has done his best work this year. McKivitz said that for Shanahan to oversee such a strong season after the 49ers saw significant losses in free agency and then even bigger losses to injuries makes him the best coach in football.
“By far,” McKivitz told Nick Wagoner of ESPN. “The coach of the year shouldn’t be a question. With what we’ve had as a team injury-wise, all the roster changes and everything, everyone counted us out this year. . . . For us to be where we are, it speaks volumes to the coach he is.”
Shanahan has never won the coach of the year award and is not expected to win coach of the year this year either. Patriots coach Mike Vrabel is the betting favorite to win the award, followed by Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald. Shanahan is a distant third.
Shanahan’s father, two-time Super Bowl-winning coach Mike Shanahan, never won the coach of the year award either. Kyle would surely take following in his father’s footsteps as a Super Bowl winner even if he also follows in his father’s footsteps as a head coach who never wins coach of the year.
The Raiders have a couple of interviews lined up with coaches who will be working on Saturday.
Albert Breer of SI.com reports that the Raiders will interview Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady and 49ers offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak on Sunday. They are also set to interview Rams assistants Mike LaFleur and Nate Scheelhaase on Saturday.
Brady also has interviews with the Ravens and Falcons on tap for this weekend. The Steelers requested an interview with Kubiak, who is not the only member of his family on the circuit this offseason. Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, Klay’s brother, has interviewed for several jobs.
Currently employed coaches can do in-person interviews after the divisional round of the playoffs and the Raiders will likely start to whittle down their list of candidates after this weekend’s round of interviews.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold appeared out of the blue on Thursday with an oblique injury, which has him listed as “questionable” for Saturday night’s game. The signs point to Darnold playing, but coach Mike Macdonald — in his first visit with reporters since the injury happened — left the door open for Darnold either not starting or perhaps not being able to finish.
“We’re really optimistic he’s going to be able to play,” Macdonald said. “Right now we’re going through all the protocol, one, just out of caution to make sure we’re ready to go, and we’ll test it out tomorrow, kind of make the final decision. We’re optimistic he’s going to play. If he doesn’t or at some point he doesn’t, Drew [Lock] is ready to go. That’s why Drew is here. He’s doing a great job.
Macdonald later said it’s a “possibility” Darnold doesn’t play.
“I think right now he’s confident he’s going to be able to go do his thing at 100 [percent], and we are too,” Macdonald said. “With these things, something could change between now and then or happen in-game. We’ll just have to roll with it.”
And it’s clear they’ll roll with Lock, not rookie Jalen Milroe, if Darnold’s injury takes him off the field.
“He doesn’t take all the reps throughout the week, but he’s doing the same thing he does every week,” Macdonald said of Milroe. “He’s been our emergency third [quarterback] for a good bit, so he’s got to be ready to go if need be.”
If Milroe is the third quarterback, he’ll be able to play only if both Darnold and Lock are injured (or, in theory, ejected).
Macdonald said Darnold feels better on Friday than he did on Thursday.
“I think if you talk to him, he’s confident he’s going to be able to play,” Macdonald said. “We feel the same way.”
It looks like Darnold will go. The discomfort could potentially require a painkilling injection. Which, as Tyrod Taylor knows, can go sideways.
So while optimism and confidence are the buzzwords for the Seahawks, it’s something to watch. Before the game and during the game. While Darnold not playing would become a major problem for the NFC’s No. 1 seed, Lock would have the opportunity of a lifetime land in his lap.
