Sam Darnold Ruled Out Against Cardinals With 'Unique' Glute Injury

According to Adam Schefter, the Seattle Seahawks have officially ruled out quarterback Sam Darnold for Sunday's matchup against the Arizona Cardinals due to a glute injury. The team is holding off on placing him on Injured Reserve, which means they expect this to be a short-term problem.

The team called it a very unique soft-tissue injury earlier this week, which is just a highly medical way of saying the man literally busted his ass. You have to respect the PR spin, but a glute strain is the kind of ailment that makes sitting in a film room just as painful as taking a sack.

"Adam Schefter reported the Seahawks have no plans to place Darnold on IR."

Darnold went down on the opening drive of Seattle's 13-10 Week 1 victory over the New England Patriots. It was a rough start to the year for a guy who just threw for 4,048 yards and 25 touchdowns last season while completing one of the most absurd career turnarounds in NFL history.

With Darnold sidelined, the offense now belongs to Drew Lock. He managed to keep the ship afloat against New England, but Sunday presents a totally different problem. The Cardinals are coming off a 26-14 win over the Los Angeles Chargers and suddenly look like a team that can actually put points on the board.

A starting quarterback getting officially ruled out is the quickest way to send a point spread into a blender. The betting markets now have to figure out how to price a Lock-led offense trying to keep pace with an Arizona squad that clearly found an offensive rhythm in Week 1.

Since Darnold is avoiding IR, he will not be forced to sit out the mandatory four games. Seattle just needs Lock to manage the game and avoid disaster in the desert this weekend before their franchise guy is cleared to return.