Seahawks NFC championship pregame: Sam Darnold does same routine to play
Richard Sherman, Seahawks cap on backward, chatted on the sideline with nattily dressed Tom Brady.
Bruce Irvin posed for pictures with screaming fans from the field, at the railing of the stands.
And Sam Darnold missed all of it. As planned.
For the second consecutive playoff game, the Seahawks’ Pro Bowl quarterback was not on the field for early pregame warmups about two hours before kickoff of the NFC championship game against the Los Angeles Rams Sunday at Lumen Field.
Veteran backup Drew Lock and rookie third-stringer Jalen Milroe were Seattle’s only QBs on the field for early warmups, as they were last week. Darnold again was preserving his injured left, non-throwing oblique until coming out for full pregame drills in full pads with his teammates about 45 minutes before the game.
Darnold said Friday he would likely be doing the same thing he did to manage his injury before Seattle’s divisional-round win over San Francisco eight days earlier.
“I feel really good for Sunday,” Darnold said Friday.
Milroe again was inactive and the emergency third quarterback, as he’s been for every Seahawks game since early October.
Seahawks inactive plays
Seattle’s other inactive players included rookie fullback Robbie Ouzts. He had been questionable to play because of a neck issue. If offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak wanted to go with a fullback in the title game, special-teams standout Brady Russell was his guy.
Rookie tight end Elijah Arroyo was inactive days after the Seahawks added him back on the 53-man roster from injured reserve.
Running back Velus Jones Jr. was inactive a day after the team elevated him and Cam Akers from the practice squad. That made Akers, a former Rams running back, the third-stringer behind lead back Kenneth Walker plus George Holani Sunday.
Holani was playing his first game coming back from injured reserve.
Seattle’s other inactive players Sunday: backup guard Christian Haynes, injured backup offensive tackle Amari Kight and rookie linebacker Jared Ivey.
This story was originally published January 25, 2026 at 2:52 PM with the headline "Seahawks NFC championship pregame: Sam Darnold does same routine to play."
