{"id":103495,"date":"2026-01-17T20:02:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T20:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/103495\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T20:02:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T20:02:12","slug":"concern-growing-over-sam-darnolds-availability-for-49ers-playoff-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/103495\/","title":{"rendered":"Concern growing over Sam Darnold&#8217;s availability for 49ers playoff clash"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The top-seeded Seahawks \u201cbelieve but don\u2019t know\u201d that former Jets quarterback Sam Darnold will be able to play in Saturday night\u2019s NFC playoff game against the 49ers, according to ESPN.<\/p>\n<p>Darnold, who led Seattle to a conference-leading 14-3 mark after signing there as a free agent, officially is listed as questionable with an oblique injury he suffered Thursday in practice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSeahawks QB Sam Darnold hasn\u2019t thrown a football since he hurt his oblique Thursday. The Seahawks believe, but don\u2019t know, that he will be OK to start tonight\u2019s game vs. the 49ers,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AdamSchefter\/status\/2012542292784009342?s=20\" rel=\"nofollow\">ESPN insider Adam Schefter posted to X<\/a> on Saturday, hours before the 8 p.m. ET kickoff in Seattle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBackup QB Drew Lock took the reps the past two days and is ready if needed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38210657\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2254534105.jpg\" alt=\"Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Howell wearing jersey number 14, throwing a pass.\" class=\"wp-image-38210657\"  \/>Sam Darnold #14 of the Seattle Seahawks warms up prior to a game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi\u2019s Stadium on January 03, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said Friday that <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/16\/sports\/seahawks-remaining-positive-that-sam-darnold-will-play-against-49ers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the team is \u201creally optimistic\u201d that Darnold will be able to play<\/a> in the division-round game following the team\u2019s first-round bye.<\/p>\n<p>Macdonald added that Darnold would test the injury Saturday afternoon before an official decision is made.<\/p>\n<p>The 28-year-old Darnold, the No. 3 pick by the Jets in 2018, threw for 4,048 yards with 25 touchdown passes and 14 interceptions in 17 games after <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/03\/10\/sports\/nfl-free-agency-sam-darnold-gets-huge-seahawks-deal\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">signing a three-year, $100.5 million deal with Seattle in free agency<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The former USC star spent last year with the Vikings and enjoyed a breakout year after struggling over his first six NFL seasons with the Jets, the Panthers and 49ers.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.62025316;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38169660\" width=\"956\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/13s.NFL_.Bracket-1.jpg\" alt=\"NFL playoff bracket\" class=\"wp-image-38169660\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>The 29-year-old Lock, who spent last season with the Giants, attempted only three passes this season as Darnold\u2019s backup.<\/p>\n<p>The Seahawks and the 49ers (12-5) split their two games during the regular season, with each team winning on the road, including Seattle\u2019s division-clinching road win in Week 18.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The top-seeded Seahawks \u201cbelieve but don\u2019t know\u201d that former Jets quarterback Sam Darnold will be able to play&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":103496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10,22,11586,19889,2248,2247,319],"class_list":["post-103495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-playoffs","tag-sam-darnold","tag-san-francisco-49ers","tag-seattle-seahawks","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}