Sam Darnold Reveals How His Body Felt in Seahawks’ Shocking Loss to Commanders

Sam Darnold 's return to the Seattle Seahawks ' starting lineup in Week 3 was anything but quiet. After missing two games with a glute injury suffered in the season opener.

Darnold stepped back under center and posted a career-high passing performance, yet his return was ultimately spoiled by costly turnovers in a 33-31 road loss to the Washington Commanders . How he felt physically was a concern, but that is now out of the question as he opened up about it postgame.

Sam Darnold opens up on return that did not go as planned

Sam Darnold sustained a unique soft-tissue glute injury on the opening drive of the Seattle Seahawks ' Week 1 victory over the New England Patriots after being sacked by pass rusher Dre'Mont Jones. Immediately after the hit, Darnold experienced persistent pain that prevented him from throwing. Initial fears pointed toward a potential season-ending hip issue.

However, subsequent MRI scans ruled out a hip injury and identified a glute muscle issue instead, drastically shortening his expected recovery timeline from months to just a couple of weeks.

Darnold cleared injury protocol and made his return in Week 3 against the Washington Commanders after logging full practice sessions leading up to the game. Before kickoff, Darnold put his body through rigorous physical tests during pre-warmups and padded drills to ensure he could move, drop back, and extend plays safely.

Despite feeling physically "great", Sam Darnold was critical of his performance in the game they lost to Commanders with a close margin.

"Physically I feel great. I really tried to test it pregame. Pre-pre-warmup and then with the pads on," Darnold said on his performance. "Obviously, not the outcome that we wanted. Too many turnovers. We didn't execute enough in the red zone. We just got to be better. First downs we can be more efficient. I feel like as a whole, our offense can be more efficient and better operationally as well."

Regarding the decisive interception returned for a touchdown, Darnold admitted it was a poor decision, noting that he saw the defender coming and should have thrown the ball into the dirt. Nevertheless, they face Los Angeles Chargers in Week 4, who considerably have a weaker defense sanding with 0-3 so far.

Sam Darnold will face Chargers' defense in Week 4

The Los Angeles Chargers defense has endured a difficult start to the season, struggling across multiple areas. Entering Week 3, the Chargers ranked 26th in the NFL in passing yards allowed per game, routinely giving up chunk plays through the air and failing to consistently restrict opposing quarterbacks. In their 24-16 loss to the Buffalo Bills , Los Angeles allowed 176 rushing yards on the ground.

Despite throwing two costly interceptions, Darnold had a good game against the Seahawks. He completed 31 of 45 pass attempts for a career-high 379 passing yards and 4 touchdown passes, finishing with a 105.7 passer rating. Now, Darnold gets a prime opportunity to rebound against a Chargers defense that ranks near the bottom of the league in overall yardage allowed and efficiency.

Fresh off a career-high 379 passing yards and 4 touchdowns against the Commanders, Darnold is well-positioned to exploit Los Angeles ' porous pass defense if he minimizes bad decisions and protects the football.