Sam Darnold receives positive news after suffering injury in Seattle Seahawks opener

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/seattle-seahawks/f5h1oOee/"]Seahawks[/a] coach Mike Macdonald told Seattle radio station KIRO on Thursday that [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/darnold-sam/zykWdDh4/"]Darnold[/a]'s injury is a muscle strain rather than joint damage after Seattle's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/football/new-england-patriots-G6oNfmi8/seattle-seahawks-f5h1oOee/?mid=GQtrH2RF"]13-10 home win[/a] over the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/new-england-patriots/G6oNfmi8/"]Patriots[/a] on Wednesday.[/p][p]While multiple reports said Darnold is expected to miss next week's game against Arizona, Darnold has likely avoided a long-term absence.[/p][p]Darnold exited the NFL 2026 season opener after only five plays because of a hip injury suffered when he was sacked, limping to the locker room.[/p][p]"[b]The hip is intact and it's good. It's more of like a muscle thing[/b]," Macdonald said. "[b]So that's good news.[/b]"[/p][p]While he expects Darnold to miss some time, Macdonald said: "[b]How long that is, we don't know yet[/b]."[/p][embed guid="705a71d8-17f3-4527-95b8-4ea511b392a4" url="https://x.com/AdamSchefter/status/2098082585951752675?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]New England wide receiver A.J. Brown suffered a right ankle injury early in the third quarter and left the game.[/p][p]"[b]Running more tests. We'll update you here next week,[/b]" Patriots coach Mike Vrabel said. "[b]We'll continue to evaluate, continue to run tests, but I don't know if he will be available for the next week.[/b]"[/p][p]New England's next game is at home against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/pittsburgh-panthers/GAyR58tP/"]Pittsburgh[/a] on September 20.[/p][p]Brown was making his debut with New England after helping the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/philadelphia-eagles/dGgVhRLK/"]Philadelphia Eagles[/a] beat [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/kansas-city-chiefs/vienoNr7/"]Kansas City[/a] in the 2025 Super Bowl. He was traded to the Patriots last June, reuniting with Vrabel, his former coach at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/tennessee-volunteers/4nSxCeM4/"]Tennessee[/a].[/p]