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Three-time Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Hasselbeck played in the NFL for 18 seasons and was no stranger to playing through injuries.
Both Super Bowl quarterbacks are listed on the injury report. Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold is listed with an oblique injury, something he has struggled with for the past two weeks, while New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye is listed with a right shoulder injury.
Hasselbeck said he had Darnold’s injury and said it’s not painful.
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New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye is listed on the Super Bowl injury report with a right shoulder injury, while Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold is listed with an oblique injury. (David Butler II/Imagn Images; Kevin Ng/Imagn Images)
“It’s not a painful injury. You know, I already had the injury. It’s not a painful injury. It’s just a little bit more like the muscle that needs to fire quickly, it doesn’t necessarily work. But in my experience, it gets better as the game goes on. Sam’s been playing with it for a couple of weeks and it looks pretty good, you know, a little measured but pretty good,” Hasselbeck told Pak Gazette Digital in a recent interview with the Family Heart Foundation.
Darnold has played well in both of his playoff appearances. In the Seahawks’ 41-6 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Divisional Round, he completed 12 of 17 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown.
Against the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship Game, Darnold had one of the best games of his career in what was the biggest game of his career. The former USC star completed 25 of 36 passes for 346 yards and three touchdowns in the Seahawks’ thrilling 31-27 victory.
Hasselbeck said Maye’s shoulder injury might be more difficult to treat than Darnold’s oblique injury.
“I think the Patriots included Drake Maye with a shoulder injury in this last game. That’s a little bit harder, too, because it’s not like that, it’s not so much the pain. It’s just feeling like you have your fastball, so to speak. But that’s the NFL. This isn’t baseball where you’re on a pitcher’s mound. Part of your job is to be a pitcher with people trying to tackle you and throw you to the ground. and hit you,” Hasselbeck said.
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ESPN Monday Night Football announcer and former quarterback Matt Hasselbeck during the Arizona Cardinals’ game against the New York Jets at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on October 17, 2016. (Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports)
Maye suffered the shoulder injury during the Patriots’ 10-7 victory over the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game. The 23-year-old appeared to have been injured in the third quarter when he was hit in a scuffle and immediately grabbed his right shoulder.
Maye, who was fantastic in the regular season, hasn’t had the same success in the playoffs, despite reaching the Super Bowl.
In the regular season, the 23-year-old completed 72% of his passes for 4,394 yards with 31 touchdowns and eight interceptions, along with 421 rushing yards and two touchdowns. In the playoffs, Maye hasn’t been as effective through the air, completing 55.8% of his passes for 533 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions while being sacked 15 times.
However, Maye has been dynamic with his legs, rushing for 141 yards and a touchdown, the only one the Patriots scored in the AFC Championship, in three games.
The Patriots will need Maye to be at his best in the Super Bowl, as the Seahawks’ defense was the best in the NFL this season, allowing just 17.1 points per game.
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Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck (8) throws a pass in the second quarter against the Chicago Bears in the 2011 NFC Divisional Playoff game at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois on January 16, 2011. (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
Hasselbeck said both quarterbacks, with the combination of an extra week of rest and modern medicine, should be ready for the big game.
Hasselbeck played for four different teams in his 18-year career: 10 seasons with the Seahawks, three with the Indianapolis Colts, two with the Green Bay Packers and two with the Tennessee Titans. In 209 games, he completed 60.5% of his passes for 36,638 yards with 212 touchdowns and 153 interceptions.
The Seahawks will play the Patriots in the Super Bowl on Sunday at 6:30 pm ET.
