The Seattle Seahawks are turning to Drew Lock on Sunday after it was confirmed earlier this week that starter Sam Darnold will miss the game against the Arizona Cardinals with a quad injury.

On Wednesday, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald announced Darnold would miss the game against the Cardinals, but will not be placed on injured reserve. He has a chance to play in Week 10 against the Las Vegas Raiders, with the Seahawks slated to have their bye week in Week 11.

The plan for Seattle, who enter Sunday 4-4 on the year, is to start Lock against Arizona, even though he is also dealing with an injury to his throwing elbow that forced him to miss the Seahawks' last two games.

"I'm really excited, especially after a couple weeks of not throwing too much," Lock said earlier this week. "Being able to get out in the huddle with the guys and throw the football and spin it around. Any chance you get to go out there and do that, it's an exciting time."

He added about his existing injury, "It's doing a lot better. It's doing good. I'm excited to be back out there. It felt great to get under center and rip some balls yesterday, so it feels good."

Lock played in Week One after Darnold exited the Seahawks 2026 opener against the New England Patriots, with him going 16-of-22, throwing for 187 yards and a touchdown in a 13-10 win.

With Darnold forced to miss the Seahawks Week Two game against the Cardinals, Lock impressed again. Against Arizona, he went off, throwing for 235 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-7 win.

Drafted out of Missouri in 2019 by Denver, Lock ended up joining Seattle in 2022, but did not feature during the regular season. He saw some playing time with the Seahawks in 2023 before joining the New York Giants for a season in 2024.

His time in New York was short, as he resigned to join Seattle during the 2025 offseason, a season that culminated in the Seahawks winning the Super Bowl.

Now in Year 8 of his NFL career, Lock is thankful to be starting once again, with him grateful for the opportunity to lead Seattle on Sunday.

"Eight years now, I was a starter going into a season; I lost it the next year," Lock said, via Seahawks.com.

"No matter what the situation is, I look at it as a big thing. It's an awesome thing. Maybe being a big deal isn't the right word, but more of an excitement, gratitude, and thankfulness towards this that

"I'm sitting here today and I get to go be the quarterback this weekend for the Seattle Seahawks eight years in with two kids and a wife. It's something that 10 years ago, that I'd be a starting quarterback with two kids and wife, it's pretty amazing and I'm blessed to say the least."

In the event that Lock exacerbates his elbow injury, the Seahawks will be forced to turn to second-year pro Jalen Milroe. "We'll be getting both guys ready to play," Macdonald said.

"We've got full confidence in those guys, and we have a plan in place and we'll go execute it."