SEATTLE — Sam Darnold, while charmed to have escaped the Jets’ losing culture and landed on two winning teams the past two seasons, cannot catch a break in the playoffs.
Darnold, the former Jets first-round draft pick and current Seahawks quarterback, popped up as a surprise name on the Seattle injury report on Thursday, two days before the Seahawks’ Saturday night home NFC divisional playoff showdown with the 49ers.
Darnold has an oblique injury and has been listed as questionable for the game.
It’s not clear when or how Darnold was injured, since Thursday was the first time such an injury was mentioned, and the Seahawks, as the No. 1 seed in the conference, had a bye last week.
Darnold wasn’t on the injury report prior to Thursday.
When speaking to reporters on Thursday, Darnold said he “felt a little something” in his oblique during practice but he expects to play Saturday night.
“[I] just kind of felt a little something in my oblique [and] just didn’t want to push it,’’ Darnold said. “It wasn’t the day to push it, so that was it. So, [I] just came inside, got some rehab and feel like I’ll be ready to go for Saturday.”
The last time Darnold played was in the Seahawks’ regular-season finale, a 13-3 win over the 49ers for the No. 1 seed at Lumen Field.
According to reports, Darnold was seen jogging on the practice field Thursday and didn’t appear to be laboring or having any trouble moving.
Seahawks backup quarterback Drew Lock got some reps with the first-team offense in practice Thursday and would start if Darnold can’t go. Rookie Jalen Milroe is the third-string quarterback and would back up Lock in that scenario.
Darnold, who completed 67.7 percent of his passes for 4,048 yards with 25 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, led the Seahawks to a 14-3 record.
A year ago, he led the Vikings to an identical 14-3 record, throwing for 4,319 yards with 35 TDs and 12 INTs. But he flamed out in the Vikings’ one-and-done 27-9 playoff loss to the Rams, against whom he completed 25-of-40 passes with one touchdown and one interception while getting sacked nine times.
The Vikings, believing in first-round draft pick J.J. McCarthy, opted not to retain Darnold and missed the playoffs this year.
Darnold, of course, is hoping to shed the injury issue, play and atone for last season’s playoff meltdown with a win over the 49ers.