Analysis: What Do ‘Tough’ Bud Clark, Mason Richman Injuries Mean for Seahawks?
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Seattle Seahawks trainer holds the ankle of safety Bud Clark (9) as they wait for the cart against the Tennessee Titans during the first half at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images [/caption]
While a loss in preseason play isn’t the end of the world, the Seattle Seahawks didn’t just lose on the scoreboard in a 19-16 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, as the injury bug took a significant toll on the roster over the span of three-plus days in Nashville.
Beginning the string of bad luck on Seattle’s first road trip of the new season, receiver Jake Bobo suffered a severe knee injury during a joint practice on Friday, landing awkwardly as he tried to gather a contested catch against a linebacker in coverage before being carted off the field. Just two days later, the misfortune continued for the defending Super Bowl champions, as lightning struck twice in the opening quarter at Nissan Stadium with rookie safety Bud Clark and second-year offensive lineman Mason Richman leaving the field with significant injuries of their own.
After Tennessee managed to steal the win late on Sunday night, Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald painted a bleak picture for both Clark and Richman, who each landed on season-ending injured reserve on Tuesday.
“We had two really tough injuries today,” Macdonald stated. “Bud has a broken ankle to my knowledge. Severity I'm not sure, but he's going to be out multiple months. We're going to try to figure out what's going on with Mason, but we also think that's a major injury, a long-term injury. Two guys that we love, that play our style of ball, that are our type of guys. Teammates love them. Great teammates, great guys, great football players. They have great futures. It's a really - it's a heartbreaker, honestly. We had three heartbreakers this week, which is tough.”
Bobo landed on injured reserve less than 24 hours after going down on the practice field, and the Seahawks didn’t need much more time to make similar decisions on Clark and Richman, not seeing a pathway where either player could return this season. With both of their 2026 seasons potentially over before they even begin, the coaching staff will now have to pivot to figure out who will be next in line to replace them for the foreseeable future.
Set to have what appeared to be trending towards a significant role in the ‘Hawks secondary as a rookie, losing Clark puts more stress on a safety group that has had more than their share of injuries leading up to the regular season. Along with Nick Emmanwori working his way back from July ankle surgery, veteran free agent signing Rodney Thomas II recently underwent surgery to repair a broken hand and Macdonald didn’t have any updates on a potential timeline for him to return to action.
There’s still a good chance Emmanwori will be ready to roll in the first couple of weeks, if not the season opener, for Seattle. But with Clark on injured reserve and Thomas facing a recovery of his own, Macdonald acknowledged that he and the coaching staff would have work to do shuffling the deck and figuring out what direction to go next with just 13 days until a Week 1 rematch with New England at Lumen Field.
“We're going to have to re-evaluate where we're at,” McDonald said. “But we saw some good things out AJ [Finley] and D'Anthony [Bell], so we'll see. Maxen [Hook] I think did some good stuff, but we'll definitely have to re-evaluate.”
As Macdonald noted, the Seahawks still have several capable rostered safeties, headlined by Bell, who played in 13 games for the team last year before being waived and claimed by the Panthers in late December. The 6-1, 211-pound veteran, who dished out several big hits against the Titans on Sunday and brings great energy every time he takes the field, offers previous starting experience from his time with the Browns and has added additional versatility to his game this summer playing extensive snaps as a “big” nickel in Emmanwori’s stead.
Coming back from a torn ACL that cost him the entire 2025 season, Finley has had his moments this summer despite not getting a ton of snaps beyond the third-team defense, including picking off Sam Darnold in Seattle’s annual Football Fan Fest practice at Lumen Field. Known for his special teams talent, he hasn’t played many defensive snaps in the league, but Macdonald has lauded him for his toughness, football IQ, and underrated positional flexibility, making him a potential candidate to see more opportunities starting with Friday’s preseason finale in Kansas City.
However, when it comes to filling the gap left behind by Clark’s absence, Hook may be a wild card to watch. The former Toledo standout can play both safety spots, but his best fit dating back to college has been at the free safety position, where his range, ball skills, and ability to fly downhill to make plays against the run have been his greatest assets. On Sunday, he made a fantastic open field tackle alongside defensive tackle J.R. Singleton to wrestle down running back D’Ernest Johnson for a three-yard loss, and he has yet to allow a reception in coverage through two preseason games.
Since Bell, Finley, and Hook all have quality special teams skills, the Seahawks could easily roster one or more of those players for the start of the season while elevating one or two of them from the practice squad for the first few weeks as necessary, utilizing a surplus of safeties as depth in the secondary as well as the third phase of the game. At this point, Bell should be viewed as a shoo-in to make the initial 53 regardless of whether Emmanwori plays in the opener, while Clark going on injured reserve and Thomas potentially heading that route as well would open a spot or two for the other two players to be considered.
As for Richman’s injury, the Seahawks fortunately do have decent depth behind Grey Zabel and Anthony Bradford at the guard positions after making several investments there in recent drafts. Third-year veteran Christian Haynes may have played his best game on Sunday, holding his own against All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons and making a key block on Jacardia Wright’s 69-yard touchdown run. After being passed over on the depth chart by Richman, Bryce Cabeldue may have a chance to turn things around and make the final roster, while rookie Beau Stephens will also be in the mix and could have a built-in advantage over Cabeldue in the sense that he might be tougher to slip through waivers, which would improve his own roster odds.
Where Richman’s injury hurts the most, however, lies in his immense versatility. A multi-year starter at tackle for Iowa, he has added both guard and center to his repertoire since coming into the league as a seventh round pick in 2025, and he added much-needed strength in the weight room this offseason that showed up on the practice field once the pads came out early in training camp. Without him, the Seahawks won’t have a true Swiss army knife amongst their backups who can play any position in a pinch.
With that said, Cabeldue played tackle in college and may still be able to slide back there if called upon in the league. Stephens has played both guard spots and may have center in his future down the line. Much like the safety spot, with Haynes all but locking up the No. 3 guard spot on Sunday, Seattle should be able to roster one of those players for the start of the season at minimum with hopes of the other one slipping through waivers and being available to elevate off the practice squad, giving the team options now that Richman has indeed been lost for the year.
