Jalen Milroe has never thrown a pass in an NFL regular-season game. By Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas, he might be the Seattle Seahawks’ starting quarterback.
Drew Lock hurt his oblique in Sunday’s 17-3 win over the Arizona Cardinals, and coach Mike Macdonald said afterward that Lock’s status for Week 10 is “up in the air.” Starter Sam Darnold is still dealing with a cracked rib and a quad injury from the previous Monday night. If neither veteran can go against the Raiders on Nov. 15, the job falls to the 2025 third-round pick from Alabama.
Two injured quarterbacks, one short week of answers
Lock did more than survive Sunday. He played all 66 offensive snaps, completed 19 of 28 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown, and kept Seattle’s offense steady against Arizona. At some point in the third quarter, though, he went into the blue medical tent to get the oblique checked. Milroe warmed up on the sideline while that happened, according to Field Gulls. Lock came back out and didn’t miss a play.
After the game, Lock said he felt the oblique more on the sideline than on the field and that he expects to be available, according to Field Level Media. Macdonald wasn’t ready to promise anything. He reminded reporters that he has, in the past, told them a guy would be ready and then he wasn’t, so he’s keeping his options open.
That caution makes sense. Lock was already managing right elbow tendinitis before he got hurt Sunday. The elbow kept him inactive for the two games before Week 9 and limited his throwing during practice, ESPN reported.
Darnold’s situation isn’t much clearer. He cracked a rib on the second play of the Nov. 2 Monday night game against Chicago, a 34-17 loss, and then hurt his quad late in that game. Macdonald has called him week-to-week but did not put him on injured reserve. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Darnold is in jeopardy of missing the Raiders game as well. Macdonald said the team would probably re-evaluate him early this week.
Who Jalen Milroe is, and why Seattle drafted him
If the call goes to Milroe, Seattle will hand the offense to a quarterback with very little NFL résumé. He appeared in three games as a rookie in 2025, did not attempt a pass, and ran three times for 4 yards, according to Field Level Media. He was on the roster for Seattle’s Super Bowl LX title run as a backup.
His college tape tells a different story. Milroe was a two-year starter at Alabama. In 2024, he threw for 2,844 yards with 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, and ran for 726 yards and 20 touchdowns, per the Seahawks’ draft profile. Those 20 rushing scores set Alabama’s single-season record for a quarterback, passing Jalen Hurts’ 13 from 2016. He also won the William V. Campbell Trophy, college football’s top scholar-athlete award.
Seattle took him 92nd overall in 2025. There’s a twist in how the Seahawks got that pick: it came from Las Vegas in the trade that sent Geno Smith to the Raiders. So if Milroe makes his first start, it will come against the franchise that supplied the pick used to draft him.
The last quarterback Seattle drafted in the third round before Milroe was Russell Wilson in 2012. Nobody should expect Wilson-like magic from a debut, but the comparison explains why Seattle was willing to bet on his legs and arm talent.
The numbers behind Seattle’s QB math
The odd part of Seattle’s season is that the backup has the better record. Here’s how the three quarterbacks stack up through nine games:
| Quarterback | 2026 snapshot | Status for Week 10 |
|---|---|---|
| Sam Darnold | 9 INTs on 211 passes; Seattle 2-4 when he plays most of the game | Rib and quad, week-to-week |
| Drew Lock | 54 of 76, 597 yards, 0 INTs; Seattle 3-0 when he plays | Oblique (plus elbow), “up in the air” |
| Jalen Milroe | No regular-season pass attempts | Healthy, next man up |
Sources: Field Level Media, Pro Football Rumors.
Lock has been here before this season. Darnold left the opener against New England early with a glute injury, and Lock came on to finish a win. He then started against Arizona in Week 2, a 31-7 victory. Lock turns 30 on Tuesday, and he has not thrown an interception in 2026.
That doesn’t mean there’s a real quarterback controversy brewing. Darnold is still the starter when healthy. But it does give Macdonald a reason to be careful. Seattle’s offense has looked cleaner with Lock, and the coaching staff will want him on the field if his oblique allows it.
The Seahawks also signed Adrian Martinez to the practice squad after Darnold went down. He’s the only other healthy quarterback in the building.
A friendly matchup, if there is one
Seattle at least drew a good opponent for this mess. The Raiders are 4-5 and rank 30th in yards allowed and 31st in points allowed, according to Pro Football Rumors. They have given up at least 30 points in six straight games.
If Milroe starts, expect the plan to lean on the run. Seattle ran for 120 yards against Arizona, and a mobile quarterback would add another threat to that ground game. Short throws, designed runs and play-action would be the natural way to protect a first-time starter on the road.
The protection up front is a question too. Quenton Nelson, the All-Pro guard Seattle acquired from Indianapolis at the end of October, needed what Macdonald called a “minor procedure” on his knee and is week-to-week, ESPN reported.
Why this game matters more than it looks
The defending champions are 5-4 and sit just outside the field in the NFC playoff picture after Week 9. The Rams are also 5-4, and the wild-card race behind San Francisco is crowded.
A loss to a struggling Raiders team would hurt. A win would send Seattle into its Week 11 bye at 6-4, with two weeks for Darnold and Lock to heal before a Week 12 trip to San Francisco.
That bye is the hidden factor in this decision. Seattle might decide it’s smarter to rest Darnold through Week 10 and the bye, so he has three weeks before the 49ers game. The same logic could apply to Lock if his oblique isn’t right by Friday.
The Seahawks visit the Raiders at 4:05 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 15, on CBS. The full slate is in our NFL Week 10 schedule and TV guide. Watch Wednesday’s practice report closely: if Lock is limited or out and Darnold doesn’t practice, Jalen Milroe will spend the rest of the week preparing for his first NFL start.
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