The Seattle Seahawks will face the Arizona Cardinals without six starters Sunday, including quarterback Sam Darnold and recently acquired All-Pro left guard Quenton Nelson. Coach Mike Macdonald said Friday that Nelson needs a minor knee procedure and will be evaluated week to week. Seattle, which is 4-4, hosts the 3-5 Cardinals at Lumen Field.
Nelson arrived from the Indianapolis Colts a week earlier in exchange for a third-round draft pick in 2027 and a fifth-round pick in 2028. Sources told NFL Network's Ian Rapoport that the operation will remove cartilage from his knee. Macdonald said Seattle does not plan to place Nelson on injured reserve. The coach explained that Nelson had been managing a knee issue before the trade, passed his physical and subsequently experienced an aggravation. Further imaging and consultations led to the decision to address it now.
The 30-year-old played every offensive snap in Monday night's loss to the Chicago Bears. He wore a sleeve on his right leg during the week, practiced on a limited basis Wednesday and missed the next two practices. His absence will send Grey Zabel back to left guard, with Anthony Bradford returning to the starting job at right guard. Zabel had shifted to the right side after Nelson joined Seattle, replacing Bradford there.
Darnold will miss Sunday's game with a quad injury sustained late against Chicago, after also suffering a cracked rib on the second play. Macdonald said Darnold will remain off injured reserve. Lock will start against Arizona despite a right elbow injury that kept him inactive for the previous two games and restricted his throwing in recent weeks. He was limited again Friday, continuing that designation on all 12 injury reports Seattle has issued since the beginning of Week 6.
Seattle managed Lock's practice repetitions this week as a precaution and also prepared third quarterback Jalen Milroe to play if needed. Milroe has not appeared in a regular-season game since Week 5 last year. Lock previously handled most of Seattle's first two games after Darnold injured his glute early in the opener. His 82.5 Total QBR ranked sixth over that stretch, and three of his four touchdown passes came during a 31-7 victory over Arizona in Week 2. Seattle also signed former United Football League MVP Adrian Martinez to its practice squad this week.
The other starters ruled out are defensive tackle Leonard Williams with a stinger, outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu with an ankle injury, left tackle Charles Cross with an ankle injury and receiver and returner Rashid Shaheed with a knee injury. Cross, Shaheed and Nwosu missed the Chicago game, while Williams left during the third quarter. Among those four, only Nwosu practiced this week, participating on a limited basis Wednesday.
Josh Jones will again replace Cross at left tackle. Backup defensive tackle Brandon Pili is also out with a back injury, while backup outside linebacker Connor O'Toole is questionable because of a foot injury.
