Sam Darnold will be up against his former team on Sunday as the Seattle Seahawks welcome the Minnesota Vikings to Lumen Field. The quarterback spent the 2024 season with the Vikings, leading them to a 14-3 record, while breaking a host of personal stats records.

Ahead of the Week 13 encounter, the Vikings’ defensive coordinator Brian Flores has a strong message for the quarterback, who has continued in Seattle from where he stopped in Minnesota. Darnold and Flores built a great relationship during his time with the Vikings.

“We had a great rapport, friendship, so I’m happy for him,” Flores said in his media availability on Tuesday. “But we will blitz him this week, that’s for sure. We will, yeah.”

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In the follow-up questions, Flores was asked if his close relationship with Sam Darnold comes as an advantage for the Vikings in the upcoming game. The defensive coordinator explained the dynamics around that.

“I think every year is different,” Darnold said. “I think there are some things that, you know, I think we could say may have bothered them a year ago, but maybe they don’t this year.

“I think based on having seen it several times, getting more reps at it, getting more familiarity with, you know, a front or a coverage. So a year later, it’s hard to know. But you try it out and see if that still bothers him.”

Brian Flores comments on how Sam Darnold has grown since he left Minnesota

In his sole season with the Minnesota Vikings, Sam Darnold experienced a great amount of growth in his game. This earned him a move to Seattle in a deserved contract. On Tuesday, Brian Flores was asked how much he thinks Darnold has grown since he left the team.

“Sam is one of my favorites,” Flores said. “I had a lot of great dialogue when he was here. And I thought he grew tremendously when he was here, for sure, just from a leadership standpoint. Obviously, his play was what it was, Pro Bowl level last year…

“He did a lot of great things and clearly those things are continuing to show up for him out there in Seattle. He’s doing a great job, he’s throwing the ball well, he’s leading the team, he’s got command of the offense, he’s getting the minutes out of plays.”

Sam Darnold threw a personal record 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns on 66.2% pass completion with the Vikings last season. In 11 games with the Seahawks this season, he’s thrown for 2,785 yards and 19 touchdowns on 69.5% pass completion.