Seahawks Confident Nick Emmanwori Will Be Ready for Season Opener vs. Patriots
Despite undergoing surgery in the week leading up to report day for training camp, the Seattle Seahawks don’t have any concerns about safety Nick Emmanwori’s availability to kick off the season with a Super Bowl LX rematch against the New England Patriots.
According to sources connected with the player, Emmanwori underwent arthroscopic surgery during the past week to clean up his right ankle, which still had been providing some lingering discomfort for him even though he participated in OTAs and mandatory minicamp this spring. It’s unclear whether the procedure stems from a high ankle sprain that he suffered early in his rookie season or a separate lower ankle sprain suffered in practice during Super Bowl week back in February, but it could be a cumulative situation with both injuries happening on the same leg.
On Monday, Seattle placed Emmanwori on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list along with running back Kenny McIntosh and cornerback Tyrone Broden, deactivating him while keeping him on the 90-man roster as he recovers. Given the timing of the surgery happening so late in the offseason, he will likely miss at least the first few weeks of training camp and playing at all in the preseason seems improbable, but per team sources, the Seahawks expect he will be back at some point in August, allowing him to ramp up with plenty of time to work back into game shape before the season opener.
Bursting onto the scene as one of the NFL’s most exciting young talents, Emmanwori rebounded from missing three of Seattle’s first four games due to the aforementioned ankle sprain and immediately became a game wrecker in coach Mike Macdonald’s defense. Playing snaps everywhere from strong safety to slot cornerback to EDGE, he finished the regular season with 81 tackles and led all safeties with nine pass breakups and nine tackles for loss, coming up just short of Defensive Rookie of the Year honors behind Browns linebacker Carson Schwesinger in voting.
The ultimate Swiss army knife at 6-3, 230 pounds with 4.3 speed, Emmanwori’s versatile skill set and elite athletic traits shined even brighter during the Seahawks’ Super Bowl run, including breaking up three passes in an NFC Championship Game victory over the Rams at Lumen Field. Even at less than 100% health, he played 70 snaps in the big game two weeks later, producing five tackles and a quarterback pressure.
Going into his second season, based off of observations from open offseason practices, Seattle has plans to further unleash Emmanwori on the line of scrimmage in 2026, as the 22-year-old spent extensive time with the EDGE group in OTAs and minicamp learning from veterans such as Demarcus Lawrence and Uchenna Nwosu. His ability to line up at as many as four different positions and play at a high level opens up Macdonald’s playbook, allowing the team to keep the same personnel on the field without having to make mass substitutions switching between nickel, dime, and bandit (seven defensive backs) groupings.
For now, Macdonald will have to put some of those experiments on hold, at least on the practice field, as Emmanwori rehabs from surgery. But the Seahawks have plenty of depth at the safety position after drafting TCU’s Bud Clark in the second round and signing veterans Rodney Thomas II and D’Anthony Bell in free agency, which should make it easier to deal with his absence until he returns at some point next month.
