Seahawks rule Sam Darnold out at Las Vegas, eye his return after the bye for the 49ers
Sam Darnold will miss Seattle's game at Las Vegas with quad and rib injuries, but Mike Macdonald says he could be back for the 49ers on Nov. 29.
The Seattle Seahawks will go without Sam Darnold for a second straight week, but they expect their starting quarterback back on the other side of the bye. Coach Mike Macdonald ruled Darnold out for Sunday's trip to Las Vegas and said Monday that he could return for the Nov. 29 game against the San Francisco 49ers, ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports reported.
Asked whether Darnold could be ready after the break, Macdonald said yes, adding, "He's making progress. We're gonna need some more time," according to Seattle Sports. ESPN reported that Darnold cracked a rib on the second snap of the Monday night loss to Chicago and hurt his quad late in that game. Seattle did not put him on injured reserve, and he did not practice before the Arizona game.
The schedule works in Seattle's favor. Sitting out against the Raiders and then the Week 11 bye gives Darnold close to a month between his last game and the trip to Santa Clara, where the Seahawks will face the NFC West leaders.
Drew Lock will start again, though he isn't fully healthy either. Macdonald said on the radio Monday that Lock had a good exam on the oblique he hurt in the third quarter against Arizona, The Spokesman-Review reported. Seattle Sports noted Lock has also been managing a sore throwing elbow. Rookie Jalen Milroe remains the backup.
The injury report goes well beyond quarterback. Left guard Quenton Nelson will miss Sunday and is having what Macdonald called a minor knee procedure, with a return after the bye described as possible. Defensive tackle Leonard Williams (stinger), left tackle Charles Cross (ankle), edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu (ankle) and receiver Rashid Shaheed (knee) have not been ruled in or out.
What it means for Las Vegas
The Seahawks are 5-4 and have alternated wins and losses for six straight games. Lock's first start under this setup went well: Seattle beat Arizona 17-3 on Sunday, the second time in three weeks the defense held an opponent to a field goal after the 20-3 win over Kansas City. Offense has been harder to come by. Seattle has scored 20 points or fewer in four of its last five games, and on the road it is 1-2, with its only win coming at Arizona.
The market expects the defense to carry over. Seattle is favored by 3.5 points on this site's board, which tracks 12 venues. Novig lists Seattle -3.5 at -102. The best price anywhere is Pinnacle's +101 at the same number, so the venues are close on the spread. On the moneyline, Novig has Seattle at -174 and Las Vegas at +167. Novig's total sits at 43.5 with the over at -102, while BetRivers has the best over price at 43 and -109. Sportsbook hold runs from 3.0 to 5.0 percent across these markets.
Those prices already assume Lock starts. The larger question is the one Macdonald addressed Monday: whether Seattle gets Darnold, Nelson and the rest of the injured group back in time for San Francisco.