Drew Lock stays ready for the call if he's needed to lead Seahawks again

SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle Seahawks quarterback Drew Lock has a whiteboard next to his bed at home where he can draw up plays if he's inspired in the middle of the night.

It helps, he said, because as a backup he's not getting a lot of reps.

That's one way Lock stays ready for when he's thrust into a game, like on Wednesday night when Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold injured his hip on Seattle's opening drive against the New England Patriots.

“My biggest thing is always just drawing every play as much as I can. Literally drawing,” Lock said. “Whiteboard. I got one next to my bed. I’ll do it at night. I’ll do it in the morning, and that’s just kind of been my thing, being able to visualize it. So when I read it out, it’s just there in my head because of the lack of reps.”

Darnold was sacked on Seattle’s first series by New England's Dre’Mont Jones. He limped off the field, was examined in the sideline medical tent and then limped to the locker room.

Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said Thursday that the injury appears to be muscle-related and Darnold's status for next week’s game at Arizona is as yet undetermined.

Pressed into duty, Lock replaced Darnold and went 16 of 22 for 187 yards and a touchdown as the Seahawks rallied for a 13-10 victory. He had no turnovers.

“He did a phenomenal job," Seahawks receiver Cooper Kupp said. "He took basically no reps with any of the guys that were out there all week, and you see the onus that he puts on himself to be ready when time comes.”

Lock has mostly been a backup since 2021. The game Wednesday was his first meaningful time under center since 2024.

“I played against Drew Lock a few times. He’s going to go out there and sling it,” Patriots safety Kevin Byard III said. “He has a lot of confidence, I’m pretty sure they have a lot of confidence in him and he made a couple plays to help his team win.”

Lock, 29, has had two stints with the Seahawks. He was with Seattle from 2022-23, after coming over in the trade that sent Russell Wilson to Denver, and started a pair of games in 2023 when then-quarterback Geno Smith dealt with a groin injury. He spent the 2024 season with the New York Giants before returning to Seattle last year.

He played only in mop-up duty last season when the Seahawks won the Super Bowl, completing two passes for 15 yards in five games.

“Man, we’ve all been saying Drew has been the best (No.) 2 in the NFL for years,” Seahawks safety Julian Love said, adding that Lock was so calm that some on the defense didn’t even realize he was in the game because “it's so seamless. He’s such a leader. He makes plays all the time in practice.”

Lock, a second-round pick out of Missouri by the Broncos, started for Denver in 2020, throwing for 2,933 yards with 16 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.

“I’ve definitely grown," Lock said. "I’ve learned a lot about football, but having an opportunity on a team like this can shift your mindset."

It's too soon to tell if Lock will start when the Seahawks visit the Cardinals on Sept. 20. If he does, it will be his first since 2024 with the Giants. As a starter, he is 10-18.

No doubt between now and then, the whiteboard is going to get a workout. But having kids in the house means sometimes it is used for other purposes. That prompted a question about whether the kids had ever drawn up a good play.

“They haven’t. No, the whole thing ends up almost black, and there’s just scribbles everywhere,” he said with a laugh.

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