Seahawks plan to start Drew Lock in Week 10 despite oblique injury, Sam Darnold to miss another game

Lock will make his third start of the season as the Seattle quarterback group battles multiple injuries

Nov 9, 2026 at 1:30 pm ET • 2 min read

The Seattle Seahawks might have avoided a worst-case scenario in their quarterback group. Although Sam Darnold remains sidelined with a quad injury and broken rib, Drew Lock has a good chance to recover enough from his oblique injury to play against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 10.

Coach Mike Macdonald said on his weekly radio show on Monday that Darnold will miss another week but that the team will enter their matchup with the Raiders with a "similar plan" to last week. That is, Lock will operate as the starter with Jalen Milroe backing him up. Macdonald said that Lock had a "good exam" on his oblique and that it is "something that we can manage" as he gears up to make his third start of the season.

Lock briefly entered the sideline medical tent during the Seahawks' win over the Arizona Cardinals with an oblique issue that initially made his Week 10 status uncertain. He also dealt with elbow tendinitis in the lead-up to his start against the Cardinals. Although he was effective, completing 19 of 28 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown, Lock was visibly short of 100% health. The Seahawks had only a modest day offensively against a Cardinals defense that entered Week 9 allowing the fifth-worst defensive EPA/play in the league, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. 

"I was pressing to do everything I possibly could all the time, and [the fans] were able to pull me back a little bit," Lock said after the game. "Jalen did a fantastic job throughout the week in practice filling in for me. It was a collective effort from everybody to get to Sunday, and shoot, here we are 17-3. Go Hawks."

Holding Darnold out for another game essentially gives him a free week to recover, because the Seahawks will hit their bye after the matchup with the Raiders. That sets him up to return for a critical NFC West showdown on the road against the San Francisco 49ers on Nov. 29. So long as Seattle can get there without any setbacks, it will be a massive opportunity for the reigning champions to draw within striking distance of the division lead.

Lock is 2-0 in his two starts this season, both of which came against the Cardinals. He operated the offense tremendously in Week 2 when the Seahawks put up 31 points on their division rivals and has done everything Seattle could ask of him. This is still Darnold's offense, though, and he figures to rejoin the lineup on the other side of the bye week as the locked-in starter.

In the event that Lock's oblique or elbow prevents him from playing, Milroe will be waiting for the opportunity to make his first appearance of the season. The former third-round draft pick has not thrown a pass in his career but handled three carries for four yards in three games as a rookie in 2025. Seattle also has Adrian Martinez on its practice squad.