Scoring Zone
Today
injury

Mike Macdonald: Seahawks’ ‘Established starters’ won’t play vs. Cowboys

Seahawks' established starters will not play vs. Cowboys due to injury concerns

First seen Aug 14, 2026 · 7:37 PM UTC

Fantasy Implication reviewed impact +0.0

This is standard preseason roster management, not an injury concern — Macdonald is simply resting established starters like Darnold and JSN ahead of the regular season, which is common practice for a third preseason game. This has zero bearing on their fantasy outlook for Week 1 and beyond; both remain firmly entrenched as SEA's starting QB and WR1 respectively. The real fantasy relevance here is for backups and roster-bubble players (e.g., backup QBs, WR3/4 competitors) who will get extended run and are the actual players to monitor for depth-chart clarity and potential waiver-wire stashes in dynasty/deep leagues.

No action needed on Darnold or Smith-Njigba — both remain locked-in starters for regular season Monitor backup Seahawks skill players getting extended preseason reps for deep-league/dynasty stash value Do not draft or value based on this preseason sitting — treat as normal load management

Don’t expect Sam Darnold, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and other starters to do anything but warm-ups on Saturday night against the Cowboys.

Coverage from Yahoo Sports Nfl · read original