Seahawks' Sam Darnold hopes to return from glute injury and play against the Commanders

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold is taking his recovery from a glute injury day by day, but said Thursday he hopes to return for Sunday's game at Washington.

Darnold practiced Wednesday for the first time since he was injured on the first series of the Seahawks' season-opening win over New England.

“Feeling good,” Darnold told reporters Thursday. “For me, especially during this week, taking it day by day. Continuing to balance the reps and do everything I need to get ready.”

Coach Mike Macdonald said a day earlier that Darnold had returned to practice but was not taking all of the first-team snaps. He said the Seahawks could determine by Friday whether to start Darnold or backup Drew Lock against the Commanders.

Darnold was hopeful he'd be ready in time.

“I’m striving for that,” he said.

The plan is for Darnold to gradually increase his practice reps each day. He also has to get in the mindset of “not worrying about the hip at all. Just going out there, playing football, playing fast.”

Lock took over in the opener and helped the Seahawks to a 13-10 victory over the Patriots. He started last Sunday’s 31-7 win at Arizona.

Darnold did not miss a game last season as he led the Seahawks to a Super Bowl title. He threw for 4,048 yards with 25 touchdowns and 14 interceptions as Seattle won a franchise-record 14 regular-season games.

He admittedly was worried after he was sacked by New England’s Dre’Mont Jones in the opener. Darnold sought treatment on the sidelines before limping to the locker room.

“There’s some things that happen on the field. You get banged up a bit. Something feels weird and you feel weird coming off to the sideline and you’re able to shake it off after a couple of minutes. It wasn’t that way. The pain lingered and I wasn’t able to throw. That was the main concern,” he said.

Darnold was taken to a hospital, where he watched the final minutes of the game on his phone, concerned about how long he'd be out. At first, it was believed that Darnold had a hip injury, but an MRI later ruled that out.

“It had a huge impact of potentially being out for the year to, ‘OK, it might only be a few weeks or a couple of weeks.’ That changes your mindset drastically,” he said. “It was a good boost that I needed while I was in there.”

The Seahawks have been just fine so far with Lock, who has thrown four touchdown passes — all to star receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

“(Lock) is a baller,” Darnold said. “Went out there, played well. Happy for him and it was cool. Cool to see his process throughout the week and how he attacked it. To go out there and perform the way that he did it was no surprise.”