Sam Darnold's participation was confined to a mere quintet of snaps.

A.J. Brown is destined for a protracted spell on the sidelines.

De'Zhaun Stribling was carted off the field.

A mere two games into the NFL season, a litany of high-profile injuries is already mounting—and Sunday has yet to dawn.

Darnold received auspicious tidings concerning his hip injury.

Brown, conversely, was not so favoured by fortune.

Stribling's status, for the nonce, remained shrouded in uncertainty.

"It has been encouraging tidings," Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald remarked on Thursday apropos of Darnold.

"At present, we are merely ascertaining the full extent of the injury and devising a strategy to get back rocking and rolling."

Macdonald characterized it as a muscle injury for Darnold in the vicinity of his hip, adding that the team would possess a clearer picture of his availability for the Sept. 20 matchup against Arizona once practice reconvenes next week.

Drew Lock, stepping in for Darnold, marshalled Seattle to a 13-10 come-from-behind victory over New England in a Super Bowl rematch on Wednesday night.

Having demonstrated his credentials as an eminently capable backup, Lock has afforded the defending Super Bowl champions the luxury of not having to expedite Darnold's return for the forthcoming encounter with the Cardinals.

“He’s been tremendous,” Macdonald said about Lock.

“He operates like a starter does in terms of preparation.

The chemistry and the personality of our quarterback room is one that is very supportive of each other and also trying to bring out the best in one another.

Drew provides a cool, confident, loose and focusedness to the whole equation, which you need — you need that.

On top of that, since he’s got here, he’s played great football in practice and in the preseason.

We saw what he could do last night.

If he has to play again then we expect the same moving forward.”

The Patriots will be deprived of Brown's services for the foreseeable future, the star wide receiver having gone down in the second half against Seattle.

He has sustained a high-ankle sprain and is poised to sit out several games, a person with knowledge of his injury said on Thursday night.

The individual, speaking on the condition of anonymity owing to the Patriots’ having yet to disclose the severity of Brown’s injury, stated that an MRI had corroborated the diagnosis.

Brown could be sidelined for anywhere between three and six games, contingent upon how his ankle responds to treatment.

In Brown's absence, New England's offense sputtered into desuetude.

The Patriots were forced into a pair of three-and-outs before Drake Maye hurled three consecutive interceptions.

"If only life operated thus, whereby one might await the recuperation and return of one's comrades, but this is NFL football," Patriots veteran receiver Mack Hollins said.

In the deal for Brown, New England dispatched a 2028 first-round pick to Philadelphia, thereby furnishing Maye with a premier playmaker.

Now, he’ll be deprived of him for a few weeks.

The Patriots face a formidable stretch ahead, with three games against three 2025 playoff teams.

They’ll host Pittsburgh on Sept. 20, and visit Jacksonville and Buffalo.

“You’ve got to stick together, and that begins with me returning to work and approaching practice with the right intention,” Maye said.

“These guys are here for me.

I think they’ve done a great job in supporting me and have had my back.

I’ve got to earn their trust.

I know I have their trust, but I got to keep on putting better football out there.

I think it’s Week 1, but at the same time, there’s a full season ahead, yet you got to get this going early.

We got to start off on the right foot.

I know what we had last year, but we got a new season, a new team, and we need to build that.”

Stribling, whom San Francisco had selected as its foremost draft choice in April, at No. 33 overall, hobbled off the field after running a route in the second quarter of a 27-7 triumph over the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night.

Having been carted off the field, he was promptly ruled out for the remainder of the game.

The 49ers, notwithstanding their having signed veteran Mike Evans and welcomed back Deebo Samuel, had nonetheless been banking on Stribling in the wake of the season-ending loss of Ricky Pearsall in the summer.

Tight end Jake Tonges, likewise, did not make his return for San Francisco, having sustained a knee injury.

Rams linebacker Nate Landman, for his part, was hurt late in the game.

NFL franchises are perennially obliged to grapple with injuries on a weekly basis; such is the intrinsic nature of the sport.

Those teams possessed of the greatest depth and most proficient backups contrive ways to surmount the loss of pivotal players.

The Seahawks and Patriots must needs ascertain a resolution with all due celerity.

On Football scrutinizes the most consequential developments across the NFL on a week-by-week basis.

For further On Football analysis, proceed here.