With the Seattle Seahawks just days away from playing for a ticket to the NFC title game, the leader of their offense — quarterback Sam Darnold — injured his oblique on his left side in a practice on Thursday.
He explained to the media how the injury happened, and while it comes at quite the inopportune time, it doesn’t appear as if it will keep him from playing in Saturday’s bout against the San Francisco 49ers.
When asked what percentage of him thinks he could miss the game against San Francisco, Darnold responded by saying that the percentage is “probably closer to zero.”
Sam Darnold explains how he injured his oblique on his left side today in #Seahawks practice and then shut it down.
I asked him what % of him thinks he won’t play Saturday in playoffs vs 49ers.
He says almost zero %.
@thenewstribune pic.twitter.com/Vu8dEhOKcS
— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) January 15, 2026
Darnold is looking to lead the Seahawks deep into the playoffs after the team enjoyed an incredibly successful 2025 regular season. Seattle finished in a tie with the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos for the NFL’s best record at 14-3, and Darnold was the team’s starter for every one of those contests and threw for 4,048 yards and 25 touchdowns.
Seattle earned a bye thanks to its 14-win season, so Saturday marks its first game of these playoffs. The Seahawks will be kicking off their playoff stint with a tough test, as the 49ers are on the heels of a victory on the road over the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
San Francisco was a sizable underdog in that contest, yet it earned a four-point victory behind some inspiring play from its defensive unit, which held Philadelphia to 19 points and only six in all of the second half.
It’s great that Darnold expects to play on Saturday, but whether or not his injury will sink his quality of play isn’t clear. Plus, in light of San Francisco’s highly impressive win last weekend, the Seahawks might need Darnold to be at the top of his game in order for them to advance to the NFC title game.
For the sake of the Seahawks’ Super Bowl chances, here’s to hoping Darnold doesn’t look any worse for wear on Saturday and will help the team qualify for its first conference championship game since the year 2015.
