RENTON, Wash. — Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold told reporters before Thursday’s practice that he “is really striving” to play Sunday against the Washington Commanders.

And proof that he may indeed make it back came after few hours later when he was listed as a full participant in Thursday’s practice. That was an upgrade from Wednesday when he had been limited in practice, his first since suffering a glute injury in the season opener against the Patriots on Sept. 9.

Offensive coordinator Brian Fleury said after Thursday’s practice that Darnold “looks great to me. He always looks great on the practice field.’’

Darnold, though, had said before Thursday’s practice it was too early to declare that he would definitely be out on the field Sunday.

“I’m just taking it day-by-day,” he said. “I also don’t want to jinx anything.”

Darnold said then he planned ramp up the reps Thursday and Friday, and true to his word he appeared to do that on Thursday in being listed as a full participant.

“Feeling good,” Darnold said. “… As long as I keep feeling good and progressing the way that I have been, continue to up the reps throughout the week.”

Fleury said after practice that Darnold is “going through a process and we’re going to stay true to that process and just see how things play out throughout the week.’’

A decision on whether Darnold will start against the Commanders figures to come Friday, coach Mike Macdonald told reporters on Wednesday.

“I don’t think we’d go into the weekend not knowing if he’s going to play,” Macdonald said Wednesday. “It’s on a good track right now, assuming today goes well.”

Asked what he’ll need to feel this week to know he’s ready to play Sunday, Darnold said: “I think just mentally having confidence in my body being able to go out there. If I need to take off, feeling good about sliding, just doing all the football things. Worrying about playing football and not worrying about the hip at all. Just going out there playing football, playing fast.”

That Darnold met the media was an additional sign that he might make it back Sunday.

The Seahawks traditionally have their starting quarterback for each week meet the media Thursday before a Sunday game. Drew Lock held that news conference last week when he replaced Darnold and led Seattle to a 31-7 win over Arizona.

If Darnold returns to play Sunday, he will have made it back 18 days after being taken from Lumen Field via ambulance after he was injured in Seattle’s regular-season opener against New England.

After it was initially feared he might have suffered a broken or dislocated hip, Darnold was diagnosed with a soft-tissue injury in his glute.

Darnold was injured when he was sacked by former Seahawk Dre’Mont Jones to end the first series of the season, on the fifth play of the game.

“I mean a lot of different emotions, a lot of possibilities, like in terms of how long I would be out and possibility of different injuries,” Darnold said of what he thought in the moment. “A lot of emotions and a lot of thoughts. But very happy to be here and standing in front of you guys.”

Indeed, Darnold said he couldn’t help but fear the worst when the injury happened.

He jogged off the field limping, then was examined on the sidelines and for a brief time thought he might be OK.

“There’s some things that happen on the field (and) you get banged up a bit, something feels weird and you feel weird coming off to the sideline and you’re able to shake it off after a couple of minutes,” Darnold said. “It wasn’t that way. The pain lingered, and I wasn’t able to throw. That was the main concern.”

Then he entered the blue medical tent, where he was examined further by trainers, then headed to the locker room, was loaded into an ambulance and taken to Harborview Medical Center.

Asked if he worried in that moment if he might have an injury that could impact his career, Darnold said: “Oh yeah. There was so many different things that were running through my mind, and that was one of them.”

Fortunately, he didn’t have to harbor that feeling long. A CT scan conducted there showed that there was nothing broken.

“It was after I got the CT scan and you can take a better look at the anatomy of the hip bone,” he said of when he knew the injury wasn’t going to be major. “That was when the doctor brought the good news to me.”

“… It had a huge impact of potentially being out for the year to, ‘OK, it might only be a few weeks or a couple of weeks.’ That changes your mindset drastically. It was a good boost that I needed while I was in there.”

Still, the experience of being taken to Harborview in an ambulance and spending time there — including watching the end of Seattle’s 13-10 win over the Patriots — was eye-opening.

“I was able to watch the last eight minutes on my phone,” he said. “It was different. I will say this — the perspective on life that I got while going into the hospital, seeing some of the people and what they’re dealing with, that was eye-opening. Especially in the position that I was in, worrying about the injury and how long I was going to be out. It was good to get that perspective.”

Darnold didn’t practice last week but was able to do some work on the side. He accompanied the team to Arizona and watched from the sidelines as Lock completed 19 of 26 passes for 235 yards and three touchdowns, all to Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

If Darnold can’t go, then the Seahawks will again go with Lock.

Darnold, though, made clear he doesn’t want to wait any longer than necessary to play again.

“It felt great,” Darnold said of returning to practice Wednesday. “To get back out there with my teammates, that’s the greatest joy. Getting that perspective and being able to go back out on the field and be able to play football with my teammates, be able to play football in general. Being on the sideline against Arizona, it was great to see Drew have success and our team have success. When I was out there on the sideline, I missed playing a ton. It’s good to get back on the practice field this week and get out there.”

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