The Seattle Seahawks haven't had safety Nick Emmanwori in 2026 training camp or the preseason yet. He hurt his ankle last season, hoped the issue could be remedied through rehab and workouts, but it couldn't. He then had ankle surgery in July.
Due to the ankle issue and late surgery, Emmanwori's status remains unknown for Week 1, when Seattle opens the season against the New England Patriots on Wednesday, September 9. The situation should be somewhat clearer on Sunday, as that is when the team has to announce its first injury report for the game.
The hope is that the defensive back (he is far more than a safety, of course; he plays at multiple spots in head coach Mike Macdonald's alignments) won't be officially listed as out against New England, but that is certainly a possibility. At recent practices, he has done some individual drills, but has not yet practiced fully.
Nick Emmanwori's Week 1 status remains unclear for the Seattle Seahawks
Expecting Emmanwori, having not gone through camp or the preseason and has had limited reps since the final roster cuts were made, to still play against the Pats might be expecting too much. The assumption (and that is all this is, with more information to be learned later) is that Nick Emmanwori won't play in Week 1.
The positive is that the team hasn't placed him on the physically unable to perform list yet. Doing so would force the DB to miss at least four games. Doing so after Week 1 would keep Emmanwori out through Week 5. Since the team hasn't put him on PUP implies that even if the player misses Week 1, he isn't likely to miss several games afterward.
Emmanwori spent time on PUP last year as a rookie with the same ankle issue, and that was early in the season. After returning, he was a transformative part of the defense, using his elite athleticism to disrupt opposing offenses in multiple ways. Without him, the Seattle Seahawks might have to change things quite a bit.
Few players in the NFL can do what Emmanwori can do in terms of being a slot corner on one play and lining up as if he is an edge rusher on the next play, and no other defensive back on the Seahawks has his blend of size and speed.
Should the safety/cornerback/edge rusher/whatever else he wants to be miss the game versus the Patriots, veteran Julian Love might be put into the same kind of spots that Emmanwori is. Love is a fantastic player, but he hasn't shown he can rush the passer, for instance, like Emmanwori. Plus, having Love play near the line of scrimmage a lot more hurts the communication on the back end.
Replacing Love at deep safety could be Rodney Thomas II, a player in his first season with Seattle, whom the Indianapolis Colts basically gave up on over the last two seasons. Maybe Thomas will be a fantastic reclamation project for Macdonald.
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