RENTON, Wash. (AP) — After playing with an oblique injury in the Seattle Seahawks’ 41-6 win over the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round, quarterback Sam Darnold said he has felt “really good” in the days since the victory.
“Just attacking rehab these last couple days,” Darnold said Wednesday. “Obviously will be throughout the week. Like I said, just got to continue to prepare and get my body right for Sunday.”
Click to Gallery
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold speaks during a press conference at the team's facilities ahead of the NFL football NFC Championship game against the Los Angeles Rams, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, in Renton, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) watches wide receiver Cooper Kupp (10) throw during practice at the team's facilities ahead of the NFL football NFC Championship game, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, in Renton, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold reacts during the second half of an NFL football divisional playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold walks on the field during practice at the team's facilities ahead of the NFL football NFC Championship game, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, in Renton, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
The eighth-year quarterback was confident last week he would be able to play in the Seahawks’ first home playoff game in front of fans in nearly a decade and followed through.
Before being pulled in the fourth quarter of a blowout win, Darnold completed 12 of 17 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown.
Coach Mike Macdonald said that Darnold’s health continues to improve, but that he will not be a full-go in practice during the week leading up to Sunday's NFC championship game against the Los Angeles Rams.
“We have a plan,” Macdonald said. “We’re going to work through it; see how the day goes; then kind of take it day by day and take it to tomorrow. But he won’t be like throwing every ball every play for the whole week, no.”
Darnold said he felt something in his oblique while throwing passes to receivers with no defenders last Thursday.
In the regular season, his first with the Seahawks, Darnold passed for 4,048 yards with 25 touchdowns and 14 interceptions en route to his second straight Pro Bowl selection. He led Seattle to a 14-3 record and the NFC’s top seed.
Looking back on Saturday’s win, Darnold said he was confident he was going to be OK before the game started.
“To be honest,” Darnold said, “once I came out in warmups and felt good throwing the ball, I was confident about going out there and letting it rip.”
Reserve running back George Holani was designated for return to practice Wednesday. Holani, 26, landed on injured reserve after injuring his hamstring during the Seahawks’ 30-24 win against the Tennessee Titans on Nov. 23.
“It feels great to be back with the guys,” Holani said before Wednesday’s practice. “Been a while, so I’m excited to get back out there.”
Should Holani, who rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries in the regular season, be activated for the NFC championship game, he would likely serve as the backup to Kenneth Walker III.
Running back Zach Charbonnet, who led the Seahawks with 12 rushing touchdowns during the regular season, is out for the remainder of the playoffs with a knee injury that requires surgery. Holani’s potential return could be key for the Seahawks.
“Yeah, George is in great shape,” Macdonald said. “Working his tail off. Excited to get him out there.”
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold speaks during a press conference at the team's facilities ahead of the NFL football NFC Championship game against the Los Angeles Rams, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, in Renton, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) watches wide receiver Cooper Kupp (10) throw during practice at the team's facilities ahead of the NFL football NFC Championship game, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, in Renton, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold reacts during the second half of an NFL football divisional playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold walks on the field during practice at the team's facilities ahead of the NFL football NFC Championship game, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, in Renton, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Ryan Coogler’s blues-steeped vampire epic “Sinners” led all films with 16 nominations to the 98th Academy Awards on Thursday, setting a record for the most in Oscar history.
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voters showered “Sinners” with more nominations than they had ever bestowed before, breaking the 14-nomination mark set by “All About Eve,” “Titanic” and “La La Land.” Along with best picture, Coogler was nominated for best director and best screenplay, and double-duty star Michael B. Jordan was rewarded with his first Oscar nomination, for best actor.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s father-daughter revolutionary saga “One Battle After Another,” the favorite coming into nominations, trailed in second with 13 nominations of its own. Four of its actors — Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor, Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn — were nominated, though newcomer Chase Infiniti was left out in best actress.
In those two top nominees, the film academy put its full force behind a pair of visceral and bracingly original American epics that each connected with a fraught national moment. Coogler’s Jim Crow-era film — the rare horror movie to win the academy’s favor — conjures a mythical allegory of Black life. In “One Battle After Another,” a dormant spirit of rebellion is revived in an out-of-control police state.
Both are also Warner Bros. titles. In the midst of a contentious sale to Netflix, the 102-year-old studio had its best Oscar nominations morning ever. As the fate of Warner Bros., which Netflix is buying for $72 billion, hangs in the balance amid a challenge from Paramount Skydance, Hollywood is bracing for potentially the largest realignment in the film industry’s history.
The 10 films nominated for best picture are “Bugonia,” “F1,” “Frankenstein,” “Hamnet,” “Marty Supreme,” “One Battle After Another,” “The Secret Agent,” “Sentimental Value,” “Sinners” and “Train Dreams.”
Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme” and Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value” all scored nine nominations.
The nine for “Marty Supreme” included a third best actor nod for 30-year-old Timothée Chalamet, the favorite in the category he narrowly missed winning last year for “A Complete Unknown.” With Jordan and Chalamet, the nominees are Leonardo DiCaprio for “One Battle After Another,” Ethan Hawke for “Blue Moon” and Wagner Moura for “The Secret Agent.”
Nominated for best actress was the category favorite, Jessie Buckley (“Hamnet”), along with Rose Byrne (“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”), Kate Hudson (“Song Sung Blue”), Renate Reinsve (“Sentimental Value”) and two-time winner Emma Stone, who landed her sixth nomination, for “Bugonia.”
The year’s most-watched movie, with more than half a billion views on Netflix, “KPop Demon Hunters,” scored nominations for both best song (“Golden”) and best animated feature. Sony Pictures developed and produced the film, but, after selling it to Netflix, watched it become a worldwide sensation.
Blockbusters otherwise had a difficult morning. Universal Pictures’ “Wicked: For Good” was shut out entirely. While “Avatar: Fire and Ash” notched nominations for costume design and visual effects, it became the first “Avatar” film not nominated for best picture. The biggest box-office hit nominated for Hollywood's top award instead was “F1,” an Apple production. The streamer partnered with Warner Bros. to distribute the racing drama.
The first category read by presenters Danielle Brooks and Lewis Pullman was supporting actress. The nominees are Elle Fanning and Inga Ibsdotter LilIeaas for “Sentimental Value,” Amy Madigan for “Weapons,” Wunmi Mosaku for “Sinners” and Teyana Taylor for “One Battle After Another.”
For supporting actor, the nominees are Jacob Elordi for “Frankenstein,” Sean Penn for “One Battle After Another,” Stellan Skarsgård for “Sentimental Value,” Benicio del Toro for “One Battle After Another” and Delroy Lindo for “Sinners.”
This year, the Oscars are introducing a new category for casting. That new honor helped “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” pad their already impressive stats. Along with those two films, the nominees are “Hamnet,” “Marty Supreme” and “The Secret Agent.”
The 98th Academy Awards will take place on March 15 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and will be televised live on ABC and Hulu. YouTube's new deal to exclusively air won't take effect until 2029. This year, Conan O’Brien will return as host.
For more coverage of the Oscars and nominations, visit https://apnews.com/hub/academy-awards.
A replica of an Academy Awards statuette is pictured prior to the 98th Oscars nominations announcement on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
FILE - An Oscar statue appears at the 91st Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon, Feb. 4, 2019, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Danny Moloshok/Invision/AP, File)
