As the Seahawks' backup quarterback, Drew Lock doesn't get many reps, if any, with the starting offense once the regular season begins.

Yet, due to an unfortunate injury to Sam Darnold early in Seattle's season opener, there Lock was, on the field with the starting offense, trying to help the Seahawks start their season off with a win over the defending AFC champions.

Lock and the offense didn't fire on all cylinders right away, with the Seahawks falling behind 7-0 at halftime and 10-0 early in the third quarter, but thanks to a big second half by Lock, All-Pro receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Seattle's defense, the Seahawks rallied late for a 13-10 victory.

And a great illustration of the challenges of being a backup quarterback thrown in the game came early in the fourth quarter when, with the Seahawks facing fourth-and-one, new offensive coordinator Brian Fleury called a pass play, which happened to also be a play Lock hasn't run in practice this year.

Lock executed the play-action play perfectly, firing a short pass to an open Smith-Njigba, and the standout receiver did the rest, making one tackler miss before racing past the rest of the Patriots defense for a 45-yard touchdown.

"Probably not," Lock said when asked if he'd run the play in practice. "It is like a classic football play. But, no. No, definitely never ran it. Looked kind of funny before the snap. I didn't really seem like they had anybody ready to match Jaxon based on what I knew we were about it run. He's the third read in that play, and when 11 is just standing there, you got to give him the pill."

Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said that to his knowledge, Lock had not run that play, and praised the overall performance of his team's No. 2 quarterback.

"Incredible," Macdonald said. "I should've given him the game ball. He'll get one tomorrow. He'll get something tomorrow. Maybe a belt. We love him, we love Drew. Guys love him. He's just a Seahawk through and through, man. It's like Drew is in the game, your heart goes out to Sam; we're praying it's minor obviously, he's had such a great offseason. But Drew has, too. He's played really well. Any time somebody is getting an opportunity, unfortunately, it's because something else isn't able to go. You also want to feel excited for that player. So we had a lot of confidence in Drew coming in playing at high level."

Lock rewarded that confidence with a great overall performance that went beyond his big touchdown pass to Smith-Njigba. In his extended playing time with the Seahawks since 2023 -- Lock also started five games for the Giants in 2024 before returning to Seattle last season -- Lock completed 16 of 22 attempts for 187 yards and one touchdown with no turnovers, giving him a 113.3 passer rating.

"We've all been saying Drew has been the best 2 in the NFL for years," safety Julian Love said. "There was such calm on our sideline, defensively, folks didn't realize until like, towards the second half, that he was in, because it's just so seamless, he's such a leader, he makes play all the time in practice. So it was really cool to see him, we just have so much belief. Not just in him, but in anyone who steps in for us. Rodney (Thomas II), Drew, that's how we operate."

Said Smith-Njigba: "Drew's a ball player. He comes in and demands the huddle, and he wants to sling, throw the ball around. Like I said, full confidence in 2… He's a playmaker. He loves to be out there and ball out. You can just see it on him, and his effectiveness on the team. You can feel it. It's exciting to see him ball out and throw it around and demand the huddle."

Cooper Kupp, who turned in one of the offensive highlights of the day, a spectacular one-handed catch for a 25-yard gain that set up a field goal, said the extra work Lock puts in every week is why he was able to thrive on Wednesday.

"He did a phenomenal job," Kupp said. "He basically took no reps with any of the guys that were out there all week. You can see the onus that he puts on himself to be ready, though, when the time comes. There's extra time he spends on the field, extra time that he spends with the coaches to make sure. The last thing you want is for Sam to have to not be there, but Drew has done an unbelievable job preparing and did a great job for us today."

For Lock, the key to staying ready when he gets so few practice reps is a whiteboard he keeps by his bed to literally draw up plays, including the one that led to a key touchdown.

"My biggest thing is always just drawing every play as much as I can," Lock said. Literally drawing. Whiteboard, I've got one next to my bed. I'll do it at night and I'll do it in the morning. That's just been my thing, being able to visualize it so when I read it out it's just there in my head. Because of the lack of reps, you don't get to physically do it. I got to be able to draw it from somewhere, no pun intended, and drawing it helps me draw it from somewhere."

The whiteboard is sometimes covered in black scribbles thanks to Lock's 2-year-old son, Layton, while Lock is away, but that only reminds him of why he's working so hard in the first place.

"I'll say that every day I get home to do that I have to erase things that were not drawn by me," Lock said. "That's probably the most random thing about that whiteboard. I think it's a good time killer for my wife at home at some point with the kiddo. Yeah, so it's fun. I get to smile right as I start to do it and kind of remember why you're doing it."

Being a backup quarterback, of course, means opportunity usually only comes when the starter isn't available, which can be tough given how close quarterbacks tend to get on a team, but fortunately the early news on Darnold’s injury was positive, and in the meantime, Lock was able to take advantage of an opportunity and show his growth as a quarterback while leading a comeback victory.

"I've definitely grown," he said. "I've learned a lot about football. But having an opportunity on a team like this can shift your mindset. Knowing the type of defense that we have, there is no rush to push the ball down the field. Let's find ways to get the ball in our guys' hands. Now, when the ones down field are there, I've never been one to be afraid of those, but having the mindset of taking football, getting it in our guys' hands. You got the best defense in the world, in my opinion, let's keep the ball moving forward and see what the scoreboard looks like at the end of this."

Lock's big performance in a dramatic, prime-time win also brought back some memories of his most recent start with the Seahawks, a 2023 win over the Eagles in which he led a 92-yard game-winning drive that was capped by a 29-yard touchdown pass to Smith-Njigba. That result, similar to Wednesday night's season-opening victory, also featured clutch second-half interceptions by the defense to clinch the win in Lock's last start.

"I don't know if my lifespan loves (dramatic games) as much as I love them in the moment, but yeah, it was a blast, again," Lock said. "I'm so proud of everybody on the offensive side of the ball. Cannot say enough about the defense forcing the turnovers. It was such an awesome night."