A sports medicine doctor who reviewed imaging of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold’s right glute injury said a Week 5 return is a realistic target, provided the veteran receives aggressive treatment and keeps up a heavy rehab load.
Jesse Morse, a board-certified sports and family medicine physician who regularly posts injury breakdowns, said the damage is not a hip labrum tear and not a fracture. He described it as a likely partial tear of the gluteus medius tendon where it attaches on the outside of the upper femur.
The smaller gluteus minimus underneath that tendon could be involved as well.
Morse wrote in a Wednesday afternoon post: “Sam Darnold. Confirmed right glute injury. Likely a partial tear of the gluteus medius tendon at its attachment on the lateral aspect of the greater trochanter of the proximal femur (leg bone). The gluteus minimus could be impacted as well (that sits underneath the medius). He’s reportedly targeting a Week 5 return, which is a realistic possibility if he had ultrasound guided stem cell/PRP injected into there and has done a ton of rehab. This won’t fully heal until the offseason. The good news is that this isn’t his labrum or a fracture.”
That assessment comes with a clear condition. Morse is not guaranteeing Darnold will be on the field Oct. 11 when the Seahawks host the San Francisco 49ers. He is saying the timeline becomes plausible only if Darnold has already received an ultrasound-guided PRP or stem-cell injection and continues extensive rehabilitation.
A day earlier, Morse had sketched a similar window, suggesting Darnold would miss Weeks 2 and 3, then be tested for mobility before Week 4, with Weeks 5 or 6 still in play if that test fell short.
Darnold was hurt on the fifth offensive snap of Seattle’s season-opening 13-10 win over the New England Patriots on Sept. 9. Patriots defensive lineman Dre’Mont Jones sacked him from behind and drove Darnold’s right knee into the turf. He left the field and did not return.
The team first called it a hip injury. Later imaging showed the hip joint itself was unaffected. Seattle then described the problem as a “very unique soft-tissue” injury in the glute.
Coach Mike Macdonald ruled Darnold out for Sunday’s game at the Arizona Cardinals and said the club does not anticipate placing him on injured reserve. An IR designation would force him to miss at least four games. Keeping him on the 53-man roster signals the organization believes he can return inside that window.
Drew Lock is expected to start against Arizona. Jalen Milroe will serve as the backup. Lock completed 16 of 22 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown in relief last week, including a 45-yard fourth-down connection with Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Darnold, 29, has traveled a long path to this point. The New York Jets drafted him third overall out of USC in 2018. After uneven years in New York, Carolina and San Francisco, he revived his career in Minnesota in 2024 with 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns. Seattle signed him in 2025. He made the Pro Bowl again and started the Super Bowl LX victory.
Through one snap of the 2026 season his career totals stand at 20,444 passing yards, 123 touchdowns and an 86.5 passer rating in 101 games, according to NFL.com. Last year he threw for 4,048 yards and 25 scores while completing 67.7 percent of his passes.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that sources around the team are bracing for roughly four weeks out from the date of the injury, while hoping he can return sooner. One source told Fowler that a Week 5 appearance against the 49ers feels possible. Another said Darnold has been moving around better in recent days.
Seattle’s next three games after Arizona are at Washington in Week 3, home against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 4, and home against San Francisco in Week 5. The defending Super Bowl champions have a bye in Week 11.
Morse stressed the injury will not fully resolve until the offseason. That is common with tendon attachments in the glute. The encouraging part, he said, is the absence of the more serious structural damage that would have ended Darnold’s season.
The Seahawks have not confirmed whether Darnold has received the injections Morse mentioned. They have said only that they will re-evaluate him daily and again next week.
For now the plan is short-term absence, not a long stay on the sideline. Whether Week 5 becomes reality depends on how the tendon responds to treatment and how much work Darnold can tolerate in the coming days.
