Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold’s 2026 season debut lasted just one drive before a hip injury knocked out the Super Bowl champion.
Darnold injured his right hip, and there is no timetable for his return, the team announced.
Facing the New England Patriots in the NFL’s season-opening primetime game — a rematch of February’s Super Bowl — Darnold was playing only his sixth snap of the game when he was sacked on the opening drive and hobbled off the field, though he did not require assistance to reach the sideline. After he was evaluated in a privacy tent on Seattle’s sideline inside Lumen Field, he underwent X-rays in the locker room and was listed as questionable and was later ruled out for the game.
Darnold was replaced by backup quarterback Drew Lock, and Seattle’s offense continued to sputter during the first half. New England led 7-0 at halftime.
“We’ve got faith in Drew,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald told NBC’s Kaylee Hartung in a halftime interview.
Darnold is one of six active quarterbacks with Super Bowl wins, and he is the only quarterback ever to win a title for his fifth team or later. Last season, he joined Tom Brady (2003-04) as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to win 14 games as a starter in consecutive seasons.
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