Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold leaves game with a hip injury in NFL opener

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 fifth snap 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 at Lumen Field, he underwent X-rays in the locker room and was listed as questionable, and he was later ruled out for the game. ESPN reported that a CT scan on Darnold’s hip returned “inconclusive” and that he was scheduled for an MRI on Thursday. Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald told reporters that the team had received “great news back” from Darnold’s scan, suggesting that a fracture had been ruled out. Darnold was replaced by backup quarterback Drew Lock, and Seattle’s offense continued to sputter during the first half. Seattle came back to score 13 unanswered points and win the game 13-10. Lock finished with 187 yards and a touchdown while completing 16 of his 22 passes. “I should have given him the game ball,” Macdonald said postgame. “We love Drew. Guys love him. He’s just a Seahawk through and through, man, and it’s like OK, Drew’s in the game, your heart goes out to Sam, we’re praying it’s minor obviously. ... You also want to feel excited for that player and we had a lot of confidence in Drew.” Lock said his focus after he stepped in for Darnold was to “take care of the football. I know what kind of defense we have, the kind of playmakers we have on this side of the ball.” Seattle needed three interceptions of New England’s Drake Maye and eight catches for 122 yards by star wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba to pull off its comeback victory. 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.