Ian Rapoport reveals 'most likely' return date for Sam Darnold

Veteran defensive lineman Leonard Williams and other members of the Seattle Seahawks have made it known that they "have faith" that backup quarterback Drew Lock can guide the club to wins while starter Sam Darnold recovers from what's been called a "very unique soft-tissue injury." 

While Lock will start for the 1-0 Seahawks at the 1-0 Arizona Cardinals this coming Sunday, a Wednesday report teased that Darnold could potentially return to action to start Seattle's Week 3 game at the Washington Commanders on Sept. 27.

During Thursday's edition of NFL Network's "Good Morning Football" program, league insider Ian Rapoport suggested that Seahawks fans shouldn't get too hopeful about seeing Darnold back on the field this month. 

Sam Darnold a "we'll see" for Week 3?

"We'll see about next week," Rapoport said. "Seems to be a bit of a long shot, but he at least has a chance. I would say Week 4 [is] probably the most likely target for Darnold." 

Darnold went down on the Seahawks' opening possession of their 13-10 win over the New England Patriots on Sept. 9. Lock completed 16-of-22 passes for 187 yards with one touchdown and no turnovers in relief of Darnold. He was largely helped out by a Seahawks defense that intercepted Patriots quarterback Drake Maye three times in the fourth quarter. 

What exactly is Sam Darnold dealing with? 

Meanwhile, outsiders have been left scratching their heads regarding the exact nature of Darnold's injury. As best he could, Rapoport attempted to provide an update on that situation. 

"He's dealing with a glute injury," Rapoport said about Darnold, "essentially a muscle pull in his...butt. That is not expected to be major. Considering what this looked like (on Sept. 9), this is actually great, great news for Seattle."

Per Brady Henderson of ESPN, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said on Wednesday that he did not "anticipate putting" Darnold on the injured reserve list. However, Macdonald was sure to add that "we'll just kind of re-evaluate every day and re-evaluate next week, and we'll go from there." 

As of Thursday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Seahawks as 3.5-point road favorites against the Cardinals.