Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold will be on the sidelines when his team takes on the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field in Week 9.

Darnold was listed on the initial injury report with quad and rib injuries that he suffered in Week 8 on Monday Night Football against the Chicago Bears. However, the swiftness in the decision to sit Darnold for the game has many wondering how long he will be out of action.

Could Sam Darnold Miss More Time?

Darnold was injured in the team's season opener against the New England Patriots and did not play in Week 2 against the Cardinals. He returned in Week 3 against the Washington Commanders, but it's possible that Darnold could be facing a multi-week absence this time around.

The Seahawks have just one more game before their Week 11 bye, when they will travel to Sin City to take on the Las Vegas Raiders, who are led by former offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak.

With the bye getting closer, it might make sense for the Seahawks to sit Darnold next week as well. That would give him three full weeks of recovery time leading up to the team's all-important Week 12 matchup against the first-place San Francisco 49ers.

The Seahawks are only halfway done with the season, and they need Darnold to be as healthy as possible going into the home stretch. His struggles could be linked to the number of injuries he has taken this season, but he still represents the best chance for the Seahawks to win football games.

Getting him as healthy as possible as soon as possible should be the primary goal for the Seahawks, which could explain why they didn't waste much time ruling him out for this week.

Could Sam Darnold Be Replaced by Drew Lock?

Considering how well Lock performed in Darnold's absence during his injury earlier in the season, there is reason to believe the Seahawks could make a quarterback change at some point during the year. If Lock shines like he did in his previous start against the Cardinals, he could start some kind of quarterback controversy, but he will need to completely blow the socks off the coaching staff.

The Seahawks have to consider all options at this point, given Darnold's health and the team's lack of success with him in the lineup. The team has really only won two games this season with Darnold under center: one was a 20-3 victory against the Kansas City Chiefs, where the defense completely dominated the game, and the other came against the winless Los Angeles Chargers in Week 4.

If Lock gets two chances to start for the Seahawks in the next couple of weeks and the offense looks like a complete 180, we might have seen the last of Darnold as the team's starter. That being said, there is still a lot Lock needs to do to earn that starting job.