The Seattle Seahawks listed quarterback Sam Darnold as questionable ahead of their Divisional Round matchup against the San Francisco 49ers. The QB suffered some oblique pain during practice and sought treatment for the same. Former Pittsburgh Steelers safety turned talking head Ryan Clark has a different opinion on the matter, though.
Clark, sadly, has been prone to more and more outlandish comments recently. He was a good player, and is a smart guy, but he appears to be leaning into the theory that the loudest and most outlandish voice gets heard best in sports media. He likely isn't wrong if he does think that.
The problem is that many fans expected better from Clark. He was an aggressive yet cerebral player. Now, he just seems to be an aggressive loudmouth.
Ryan Clark says silly things about the Seattle Seahawks and Sam Darnold
Speaking about Darnold's injury on ESPN's First Take, Clark said, "It sounds like the setup for an excuse. It sounds like the things that you say before a game when you don't play well. When the throws aren't where they're supposed to be. Everybody can point back and say, 'but you have to remember he didn't get those first-team reps and his oblique was tight on Thursday.'"
Yes, yes, Mr. Clark. That all makes (no) sense. The Seattle Seahawks have gone 14-3, with the top seed in the NFC, all the while expecting their quarterback to fail.
Let's be fair: Clark's take is ridiculous. No player or team as successful as Seattle has been this season is already thinking about making excuses for a game that hasn't happened yet. The culture of the team wouldn't allow that, just as the culture of the Steelers teams Clark played on wouldn't allow that.
While Darnold is listed as questionable ahead of the game, one must remember that 10 years ago, the NFL did away with the designation of "probable." It is likely, based on what Sam Darnold and Mike Macdonald have said since the oblique issue was first detected, that the quarterback would have been listed as probable had that been an option.
ESPN's Adam Schefter also reported that Darnold hasn't thrown a pass "since he hurt his oblique Thursday" and that "backup QB Drew Lock took the reps the past two days." Maybe ESPN simply has it out for Seattle?
Schefter's tweet was from early Saturday morning, so Darnold wouldn't have tried to throw a pass yet that day. Lock also didn't take all the QB1 reps on Thursday because Darnold was practicing with the issue that occurred. On Friday, the Seahawks didn't practice but had a walk-through. Lock wouldn't have taken a full practice of starter reps that day.
Perhaps Ryan Clark and Adam Schefter simply need a long vacation instead of trying to drum up drama related to the Seattle Seahawks and Sam Darnold. Unfortunately, though, what Clark and Schefter are doing pays the bills in the current world of sports media.