RENTON, Wash. — After playing with an oblique injury in the Seattle Seahawks’ 41-6 win over the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round, quarterback Sam Darnold said he has felt “really good” in the days since the victory.
“Just attacking rehab these last couple days,” Darnold said Wednesday. “Obviously, will be throughout the week. Like I said, just got to continue to prepare and get my body right for Sunday.”
The eighth-year quarterback was confident last week he would be able to play in the Seahawks’ first home playoff game in front of fans in nearly a decade and followed through.
Before being pulled in the fourth quarter of a blowout win, Darnold completed 12 of 17 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown.
Coach Mike Macdonald said that Darnold’s health continues to improve, but that he will not be a full-go in practice during the week leading up to Sunday’s NFC Championship game against the Los Angeles Rams.
“We have a plan,” Macdonald said. “We’re going to work through it, see how the day goes then kind of take it day-by-day and take it to tomorrow. But he won’t be like throwing every ball every play for the whole week, no.”
Darnold said he felt something in his oblique while throwing passes to receivers with no defenders last Thursday.
In the regular season, his first with the Seahawks, Darnold passed for 4,048 yards with 25 touchdowns and 14 interceptions en route to his second straight Pro Bowl selection. He led Seattle to a 14-3 record and the NFC’s top seed.
Looking back on Saturday’s win, Darnold said he was confident he was going to be OK before the game started.
“To be honest,” Darnold said, “once I came out in warmups and felt good throwing the ball, I was confident about going out there and letting it rip.”
