NFL exec speculates on how the Seahawks managed Sam Darnold's injury

If Sam Darnold was bothered by his oblique injury during the Seattle Seahawks' dismantling of the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday night he did a good job of hiding it.

Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak did his part in protecting Seattle's new franchise quarterback by dialing up a run-heay game plan. Ken Walker followed through with the best game any Seahawks running back has had in the playoffs in 20 years, roasting he Niners for nearly 150 scrimmage yards and scoring three touchdowns.

For Darnold's part he only had to throw 17 pass attempts - and only a couple of them really challenged his throwing power. Darnold's bullet to Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the end zone should lay to rest any concerns about how much torque he can put into a pass.

Odds are Darnold had some help from the Seahawks' training staff, though in the form of a Toradol shot. Here's what one anonymous NFL executive thinks the team did to get Darnold through the game, according to Mike Sando at The Athletic.

"He didn't throw a pass until 45 minutes before kickoff," an exec from another team said. "That tells me they gave him the shot an hour before the game. You have a strategy where you are trying to time it up. You want to wait as long as you can before giving him the shot."

This makes sense, and explains why Darnold wasn't out on the field warming up with Drew Lock, Jalen Milroe and the rest of the Seahawks offense.

That development brought on a lot of anxiety from Seattle's fanbase, but it turned out to be a nothing-burger of a story. Whether it was Toradol or a simple case of the injury being made out to be more than it was, Darnold showed no signs of being limited by his oblique issue.

Even if Darnold hadn't been able to play, odds are the result would not have been much different. Drew Lock could have thrown three pick-sixes in Darnold's place and the Seahawks still would have won comfortably by two touchdowns.

Looking ahead, Darnold faces Round 3 of the toughest challenge he's faced in this phase of his career. His two worst games this season have both come against the Rams, throwing six of his 14 interceptions against them. If Darnold can just play one more clean game the Seahawks will be on their way to the Super Bowl.

Sam Darnold, Drew Lock — Aug 15, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Drew Lock (2) and quarterback Sam Darnold (14) exit the locker room for pregame warmups against the Kansas City Chiefs at Lumen Field. | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

More Seahawks on SI stories