SEATTLE – Sam Darnold let out a quiet chuckle. It had been barely half a year since he lifted the Lombardi Trophy for the first time, and now, standing at a podium during training camp, he was being asked about the narratives that once haunted him. For years, the former No. 3 overall pick was branded a bust, a nomadic quarterback who bounced between five teams in eight seasons before landing in Seattle. But on this Thursday, Darnold made it clear he doesn’t carry that baggage anymore.

“I don’t allow myself to really pay attention to anything like that,” Darnold said, five days into camp. “If I do catch wind of it, I have my process on how to handle that. It’s just about handling my process and doing it my way, so that when I get out there, it’s not about what I’ve done or what I’m going to do, it’s about what I’m doing right now.”

That mindset has served him well. After a second straight Pro Bowl season, Darnold has silenced critics who once wrote him off. But he isn’t one to dwell on the past. His focus is on absorbing the Seahawks’ new offensive scheme under first-year coordinator Brian Fleury. The two share a history: Fleury spent four years as the 49ers’ tight ends coach while Darnold was San Francisco’s backup in 2023. Now, Fleury has taken over for Klint Kubiak, who left to become head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.

“Whether it’s a good play or bad play, his mentality never changes out there on the field, which I already knew about, being in San Francisco with him,” Darnold said of Fleury. “He was always very even keel. Now, getting to spend a lot more time with him as the offensive coordinator, it’s fun to be able to watch him work every single day and see his mentality out there.”

Another priority for Darnold is building rapport with wide receiver Rashid Shaheed. The speedy playmaker signed a three-year, $51 million contract in March and is entering his first full season in Seattle after splitting time with the Seahawks and New Orleans last year. Shaheed tallied 59 catches for 687 yards and two touchdowns in 2025, and Darnold is eager to unlock more. The two Southern California natives spent part of the offseason training together at Saddleback College in Orange County.

“He’s a friendly receiver to throw to,” Darnold said. “I’m looking forward to him continuing to get more reps and build that chemistry so that we can see him more often getting catches and doing his thing at the receiver position.”

Fans will get an inside look at that chemistry when HBO’s “Hard Knocks” follows the defending champions this summer. As the quarterback of the reigning Super Bowl winners, Darnold is likely to be a focal point of the series. He’s entering his ninth NFL season and says he’s ready for the extra attention.

Head coach Mike Macdonald, meanwhile, has no shortage of praise for his signal-caller. “The thing I appreciate about Sam – and you can’t speak for everybody — but just every rep is a rep,” Macdonald said. “If it’s in the quarterback room and they’re going over the script, he treats that rep the same as he does here, if it’s practiced online or we’re in a game. It’s all the same. That’s the mental approach that we want all of our guys to take.”

Photographs from training camp — including Darnold taking selfies with fans, signing autographs, and handing off the ball — captured a relaxed, confident quarterback. The Seahawks are set to defend their crown, and Darnold, despite the years of skepticism, is exactly where he wants to be: focused on the present, not the narrative.