Who will be at quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks when they visit the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 10? Right now, nobody knows. That includes the head coach. Drew Lock, Sam Darnold, and Jalen Milroe are all in the mix, and Seattle has a decision to make.

The Seahawks took care of business Sunday with a 17-3 win over the Arizona Cardinals. The win came with a scare at the most important position on the football field. Quarterback Drew Lock left the game for a moment and went to the blue medical tent, then returned to finish the contest.

Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald said postgame that Lock suffered an oblique injury and that his status for the matchup with the Raiders is up in the air. Macdonald also said he doesn’t know about Sam Darnold. Darnold was ruled out of Sunday’s game earlier in the week because he is dealing with severe tendonitis in his throwing elbow, per Tom Pelissero.

Macdonald didn’t sound like a coach with his mind made up after the game.

“I think we’ll probably reevaluate (Sam) earlier in the week, but you know, I’m assuming we’ll probably have to make a decision on who we’re going to get ready and how we’re going to do that. You know, Drew’s situation, we’ll have to evaluate that as well. So unfortunately, it seems like that’s kind of up in the air right now with Drew,” Macdonald said.

Drew Lock isn’t ruling himself out

Now, there’s an important counterpoint. Lock was asked after the game how he’s feeling, and he told reporters he’s confident he’ll be able to play in Week 10.

That’s the most encouraging thing to come out of Sunday for Seattle. Players will almost always tell you they’re good to go. Still, Lock went to the tent, came back, and finished the game, and that tells me he isn’t far off.

With that being said, Macdonald hasn’t committed to anything. A coach who is sure about his starter doesn’t talk about having to decide who to get ready.

Is this Jalen Milroe’s moment?

With Locke and Darnold both in question, Seattle may have to turn to Jalen Milroe. Rob Gregson, A to Z Sports’ Alabama/NFL site writer, laid out what this opportunity could mean for him:

“This is Jalen Milroe’s chance to show that he has developed into an NFL-caliber quarterback with the Seattle Seahawks. At Alabama, we saw a player who could be the most dynamic on the football field on one play and unplayable the next. That changed under Kalen DeBoer, where Milroe became a much better dropback passer and processor. We have seen glimpses of that during the Seahawks preseason and on Hard Knocks this past offseason, but the exhibition slate and any given NFL Sunday are two very different things. 

With what should be a full week of prep ahead of the Raiders game, he will have ample time to run with the first-team offense and head into the game with the utmost confidence, but the others will have to step up. JSN must be a game breaker. The run game has to get going, and OC Brian Fleury needs to mix in a lot of quarterback runs. If so, the Seahawks should roll in Vegas.” – Gregson

He’s right, and I’d go a step further. If it does end up being Milroe, this is about as good a setup as a backup quarterback can ask for. A full week with the starters is a luxury most backups never get. When a starter goes down on a Sunday afternoon, the next man up usually has to figure it out on the fly.

Make no mistake, the pressure would be real. But Milroe’s legs give Seattle a dimension the other two quarterbacks don’t, and leaning into that is how you protect a young passer.

Seattle’s bye week timing could be a blessing

Expect a decision within the next couple of days. Macdonald said in his postgame press conference that he wants to give whoever the quarterback is the proper time to practice and get reps throughout the week. That means Seattle can’t wait until Saturday to sort this out.

The calendar also helps. The Seahawks go on their bye week after Sunday’s game in Las Vegas. That should give both Lock and Darnold plenty of time to heal up and be ready in late November, when Seattle goes on the road to face the San Francisco 49ers.

That trip is the one that matters most down the stretch. The Raiders game is important, but the bigger goal is getting this quarterback room healthy before a division showdown in Santa Clara.

I’m big into trusting players and at the end of the day, if Drew Lock says he’ll be able to play in Week 10 then that’s who I’m expecting to play. It would certainly be the best outcome for Seattle. However, like Gregson stated, Jalen Milroe is hungry and has the tools to get the job done. 

Either way, the Seattle Seahawks have plenty of weapons for whoever starts at quarterback against the Raiders to work with. They just have to trust that Brian Fleury can put together a good gameplan.

Good luck with that.