Rookie quarterback Jalen Milroe took three snaps for the Seattle Seahawks during the 2025 regular season. But with the Seahawks entering the NFL playoffs on Saturday night, Milroe might be closer to seeing the field than usual.
Seattle has listed Sam Darnold’s playing status for its game against the San Francisco 49ers as questionable after the quarterback came up with an oblique injury this week that limited his practice work.
“Really optimistic he’s going to be able to play,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said on Friday. “And right now we’re going through all the protocol, one, just out of caution to make sure we’re ready to go. We’ll test it out tomorrow and kind of make the final decision. But again, we’re optimistic he’s going to play.
“And if he doesn’t, or at some point he doesn’t, then Drew’s ready to go, and that’s why Drew’s here. He’s doing a great job.”
Drew Lock gives Seattle a backup quarterback with 28 games of NFL starting experience, although he has thrown only three passes this season.
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In his first season with the Seahawks, Darnold led Seattle to the best record in the NFC at 14-3 as he completed 323-of-477 passes for 4,048 yards with 25 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
“Right now, he’s confident that he’s going to be able to go do his thing at 100 percent,” Macdonald said. “And we are, too. But, you know, with these things, something could change from now and then, or something can happen in game, so kind of just have to roll with it.”
The Seahawks acquired Milroe in the third round of the NFL Draft on April 25 after he threw for 5,678 yards and 39 touchdowns and ran for 1,257 yards and 32 touchdowns in his final two seasons at Alabama.
Milroe played three snaps in Seattle’s first five games of the season. He kept the football on all three and ran for a total of 4 yards.
In the Seahawks’ final 12 regular-season games, Milroe served as Seattle’s emergency third quarterback. With that designation, Milroe dressed for the game, but he did not count on the Seahawks’ 48-player game-day roster. As the emergency third QB, Milroe could play only if Darnold and Lock were unable to.
That didn’t happen during the regular season.
“He’s doing the same thing he does every week,” Macdonald said. “I mean, he’s been our emergency third here for a good bit, so he’s got to be ready to go if need be.”
The Seahawks and 49ers square off at 7 p.m. CST Saturday at Lumen Field in Seattle. FOX will televise the Divisional Weekend game.
As the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoff field, the Seahawks received a first-round bye. The No. 6 seed, San Francisco upended the third-seeded Philadelphia Eagles 23-19 on Sunday.
As NFC West rivals, Seattle and San Francisco played twice during the regular season. The 49ers won 17-13 in the season-opening game on Sept. 7, and the Seahawks won 13-3 in the regular-season finale on Jan. 3. If San Francisco had won the latter game, the 49ers would have been the conference’s No. 1 seed.
