By ROB MAADDI AP Pro Football Writer
Sam Darnold played just five snaps. A.J. Brown will be sidelined for a while. De’Zhaun Stribling was carted off the field.
High-profile injuries are adding up just two games into the NFL season. It’s not even Sunday yet.
Darnold got good news about his hip injury. Not so much for Brown. Stribling’s status wasn’t immediately known.
“It’s been positive news,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said Thursday about Darnold. “Right now we’re just working through the extent of the injury and put a plan in place to get back rocking and rolling.”
Macdonald called it a muscle injury for Darnold near his hip and that the team would have a better idea of his status for the game against Arizona on Sept. 20 when practice resumes next week.
Drew Lock replaced Darnold and led Seattle to a 13-10 comeback win over New England in a Super Bowl rematch Wednesday night. Lock proved he’s a capable backup so the defending Super Bowl champions won’t have to rush Darnold back to face the Cardinals.
“He’s been tremendous,” Macdonald said about Lock. “He operates like a starter does in terms of preparation. The chemistry and the personality of our quarterback room is one that is very supportive of each other and also trying to bring out the best in one another. Drew provides a cool, confident, loose and focusedness to the whole equation, which you need — you need that. On top of that, since he’s got here, he’s played great football in practice and in the preseason. We saw what he could do last night. If he has to play again then we expect the same moving forward.”
The Patriots won’t have Brown for a while after the star wide receiver went down in the second half against Seattle. He has a high-ankle sprain and will miss several games, a person with knowledge of his injury told The Associated Press on Thursday night.
The person, speaking on condition of anonymity because the Patriots haven’t announced the severity of Brown’s injury, said an MRI confirmed the diagnosis. Brown could miss anywhere from three to six games, depending on the way his ankle responds to treatment.
Without Brown, New England’s offense fizzled. The Patriots went three-and-out twice and then Drake Maye threw three straight interceptions.
“I wish life was like that, where you could wait for your guys to come back and be healthy again but, it’s NFL football,” Patriots veteran receiver Mack Hollins said.
New England traded a 2028 first-round pick to Philadelphia in the deal for Brown to give Maye a top playmaker. Now, he’ll be without him for a few weeks. The Patriots have a tough schedule coming up with three games against three 2025 playoff teams. They’ll host Pittsburgh on Sept. 20, and visit Jacksonville and Buffalo.
“You’ve got to stick together and that starts with me getting back to work and having the right intention in practice,” Maye said. “These guys are here for me. I think they’ve done a great job in supporting me and have had my back. I’ve got to earn their trust. I know I have their trust, but I got to keep on putting better football out there. I think it’s Week 1 but at the same time, there’s a full season ahead but you got to get this going early. We got to start off on the right foot. I know what we had last year, but we got a new season, a new team, and we need to build that.”
Stribling, who was San Francisco’s top draft pick in April at No. 33 overall, limped off the field after running a route in the second quarter of a 27-7 victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night.
He left the game on a cart and was quickly ruled out for the game. The 49ers signed veteran Mike Evans and brought back Deebo Samuel but were counting on Stribling after losing Ricky Pearsall for the season in the summer.
Tight end Jake Tonges also didn’t return for San Francisco after injuring his knee. Rams linebacker Nate Landman got hurt late in the game.
NFL teams have to deal with injuries every week. It’s part of football. The teams with the most depth and best backups find ways to overcome key losses.
The Seahawks and Patriots have to figure it out quickly.
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