‘Got My Schedule Down’: Drew Lock Sticking to Process Gearing Up for Rare Seahawks Start in Arizona
RENTON, Wash. - Now in the midst of his eighth NFL season and not far off from his 30th birthday, Seattle Seahawks veteran Drew Lock has a pretty good beat on how the practice week changes when injuries strike and the opportunity presents itself to start.
But as Lock ramps up preparation to make his first regular season start since 2024 when Seattle travels to Arizona for its NFC West opener, the former Missouri star isn’t reinventing the wheel by any means. Though he will get the bulk of the first-team snaps under center on the practice field with Jalen Milroe occasionally subbing in, a far cry from his usual workload where he might get 10 snaps in a week if lucky, he has settled into a routine over the past several seasons serving as a backup that he won’t detour away from much, if at all, going into Sunday.
Expressing as much in a playful manner behind the podium prior to Thursday’s practice, Lock joked that he "started sweating at 11 instead of 2” when asked about the biggest differences between work days this week as the announced starter compared to the norm when Sam Darnold gets all of the reps.
“I'm attacking this week. It's obviously not the same because I'm going out and doing more in practice, in ACTs, but with the same mindset as I would if I wasn't playing,” Lock explained. “Or in the rare occasion last week where I was… You install first and second down on Wednesdays. By the time it gets to Friday night or Saturday, you don't forget about the first and second down plays. You start focus on third down and red zone. No, I feel like I've been through this process enough. I've got my schedule down, and I'm sticking by it.”
Lock first broke into the league as a second round pick with the Broncos in 2019 and became a starter late in his rookie season, starting 18 games in his first two seasons with plenty of highs and plenty of lows. He eventually lost his job to Teddy Bridgewater in training camp before the 2021 season, appearing in six games with three starts that year.
Since that point, beginning with being traded to the Seahawks as part of the blockbuster Russell Wilson trade, Lock has only started seven games over the previous four seasons, settling into a backup role with a few starting auditions scattered along the way.
This included orchestrating a confidence-boosting Monday Night Football upset over the Eagles replacing an injured Geno Smith in 2023 during his first stint with the Seahawks and a brief pitstop with the Giants in 2024, as Lock started five games in New York before opting to return to Seattle as a free agent last season, graciously accepting a backup job behind Sam Darnold to return to the place that has truly become home for him and his family.
“The belief that they had in me was through the roof, and it warmed my heart a little bit, so to say. Brings you back a little bit,” Lock said of his affinity for playing in the Emerald City. “And not to mention, my wife and I were engaged for like two weeks before we got traded, so majority of our early marriage, both of our children are born here. The irony of leaving and coming back and having our second child here is just, the the probability of that is probably very little, especially considering you leave a team and have a chance to come back, and then them giving me that chance to come back and be a part of this and be a part of that team last year and be standing here today. Just the belief, the love, the comfortable feeling of being here. It's just a great place.”
Last year, Lock only threw a grand total of three passes in the regular season and playoffs, the reality that comes with being a backup in the league with a healthy starter ahead of him on the depth chart. Darnold enjoyed a strong first season at the helm, guiding the Seahawks to a Super Bowl LX victory after throwing 25 touchdown passes in the regular season, and even with an oblique injury that left him questionable during the playoffs, he didn’t miss a single start and only ceded snaps to his backup in blowout victories.
But over the years, in part from the tough lessons learned during his rocky couple of seasons as a starter in Denver, Lock has made it a point of emphasis to treat every week as if he’s starting, as all it takes is one ill-fated snap for him to be thrust into action any given game, and built a consistent routine with that frame of mind.
Such habits paid dividends for Lock when Darnold exited just six plays into Seattle’s season opener on September 9, leaving for the locker room with what was initially reported as a hip injury and being ruled out late in the second quarter. The gunslinger didn’t find much success early as he and offensive coordinator Brian Fleury tried to adapt a game plan for the backup quarterback on the fly after he had minimal snaps in practice with the first-team offense, but coming out of halftime, things started to click for the pair.
While the Seahawks didn’t necessarily light up the scoreboard in the final 30 minutes, Lock engineered a trio of scoring drives, including tying up the game at 10 apiece early in the fourth quarter on a pivotal 4th and 1 completion to star receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Getting the ball to his playmaker quickly on a curl route off a play fake, the reigning Offensive Player of the Year did the rest, sprinting through and past numerous Patriots defenders as he exploded to the end zone for a 45-yard touchdown strike.
Lock later added a 13-yard run in the red zone, setting up Jason Myers for the eventual game-winning field goal as Seattle erased a 10-point deficit to steal a 13-10 victory, with the quarterback doing his part by throwing for 187 yards with a 72% completion rate and most importantly, not a single turnover.
Looking forward to another chance to show what he can do as a starter for the ‘Hawks on Sunday, Lock continues to highlight that final point as the most important key for both his own individual play and the success of the team. Earlier in his career, he struggled with interceptions, including leading the league with 15 of them in 2021. Even for the Seahawks in 2023, he got picked three times in two starts, frequently forcing throws into tight windows and putting the ball in harms way.
Understanding that he doesn’t need to play hero ball or try to do too much as a passer with Seattle boasting one of the best defenses in the NFL, evidenced again by three fourth quarter interceptions against Drake Maye last week, Lock knows he simply has to make smart decisions within the confines of Fleury’s offense to protect the football first and foremost.
“It’s just maturing and analyzing situations throughout the game,” Lock said. “When you’re younger, you’re flying around, running the play that’s called, trying to hit the big ones, throw a couple touchdowns. It’s about being diligent about your process, going through your reads, know when you’re hot and take care of the ball.”
Over the next few days, Lock will continue to dial it up with Smith-Njigba, Cooper Kupp, Rashid Shaheed, and the rest of Seattle’s starting offense, aiming to bridge the gap with his pass catchers while diving head-first into Fleury’s game plan. From setting protections with the offensive line to perfecting third down and red zone situational calls that will go on the play sheet, he will have a full plate.
Additionally, extra reps after practice will be crucial for Lock to take advantage of and maximize on limited field time. Three two hour practices and a walkthrough will only go far alone.
But none of this is new territory for Lock, who has proven time and time again he will be ready for the moment. He’s always trying to find ways to carve out time with receivers and as an experienced, quality backup must, he has mastered the art of winning in the mental side of the game to stay prepared for when opportunity knocks. The only real difference this week boils down to applying that mental part of the equation to the physical reps between the lines, and if he protects the ball and facilitates to his bevy of weapons, he’s confident he can lead the Seahawks to another victory.
“Get the ball in our play makers’ hands, letting our defense go be our defense, take care of the football, win the turnover differential. See where the scoreboard is at the end of it and hopefully, we come out with a win. I would say if there’s one thing I’m saying to myself, it’s take care of the football and get it into these guys’ hands.”
