The Seattle Seahawks are supposed to be basking in the afterglow of a Super Bowl title. Instead, they're heading into Week 2 without the quarterback who delivered it. Seattle has officially ruled out Sam Darnold for Sunday's game at the Arizona Cardinals, and head coach Mike Macdonald confirmed Wednesday that journeyman Drew Lock will make his first start since 2024 in Darnold's place.

Darnold's night ended early in Seattle's season-opening 13-10 win over the New England Patriots, when he was sacked from behind on just the fifth offensive snap and his right knee jammed into the turf. The Seahawks initially feared a hip injury, but further evaluation pointed to what the team called a "very unique soft-tissue injury" to the glute, with the hip joint itself unaffected. Macdonald has ruled out a trip to injured reserve for his star quarterback.

"I don't anticipate putting him on IR or anything like that, but we'll just kind of re-evaluate every day and re-evaluate next week and we'll go from there, but he won't play this week."

Lock Gets Another Shot

Lock relieved Darnold last week and rallied Seattle from a 10-point deficit, completing 16 of 22 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown to close out the win. Now he gets a full week of first-team reps and his first start since a 2024 stint with the New York Giants. Rookie Jalen Milroe, who won a Super Bowl ring last season without throwing a regular-season pass, will back him up. "Drew's a proven, really good player in this league, and when he's started, he's played really good football," Macdonald said of his fill-in.

The absence stings because of what Darnold just accomplished. A year ago he led the league in turnovers during the regular season, yet he steered Seattle to a 14-3 record, then didn't commit a single turnover across a perfect 3-0 playoff run, capped by a 29-13 demolition of New England in Super Bowl LX. That made him the first quarterback from the star-studded 2018 draft class — ahead of Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Baker Mayfield — to win it all as a starter.

Sunday's opponent isn't the pushover its 3-14 record from a season ago suggests, either. The Cardinals stunned the Los Angeles Chargers 26-14 in Week 1, winning as 9.5-point underdogs in new head coach Mike LaFleur's debut behind 277 passing yards from veteran Jacoby Brissett. A Seahawks offense breaking in a new starter now walks into a building with real momentum on the other sideline.

Kickoff at State Farm Stadium in Glendale is set for 4:25 p.m. ET Sunday on Fox. The encouraging news for Seattle: Darnold's injury isn't considered serious, and the belief inside the building is he could be cleared to return as soon as Week 3 against Washington — meaning the reigning champs may only have to survive one week on the road before getting their franchise quarterback back under center.