Why Mike Macdonald’s noncommittal on Nick Emmanwori’s status for Seahawks opener

The coach of the Super Bowl-champion Seahawks is pumping the brakes on expectations on when Nick Emmanwori will rejoin their top-ranked defense.

>The News Tribune asked Mike Macdonald multiple times in different ways Saturday following the first practice of training camp whether he expected Emmanwori to play in Seattle’s first game. That’s the NFL opener Sept. 9 in a Super Bowl rematch against New England at Lumen Field.

>Macdonald chuckled nervously. He smiled.

>“I don’t know,” the coach said. “I mean, could he play in the opener? Sure.”

>Does Macdonald and the team expect Emmanwori to play week one?

>“He could play in the opener?”

>Does he expect him to?

>“I don’t know,” Macdonald said.

>He laughed again.

>“That was good. That was a good angle....That was fair.”

>But inconclusive.

>Yet league sources reiterated to The News Tribune Saturday the Seahawks expect Emmanwori to play in the opener.

>Macdonald is avoiding any timeline on Emmanwori’s return and staying vague on his status for week one to lessen any pressure the second-year star may be feeling to return soon — or, more to the point, sooner than he should.

Emmanwori had surgery this month on the right ankle he sprained in practice at San Jose State University in early February, four days before Super Bowl 60. Macdonald later said he couldn’t sleep that week thinking his key, versatile weapon all over his tricky defense would not be able to play in the Super Bowl.

>But the do-it-all safety/linebacker practiced two days later. Then he played 70 of 72 defensive snaps as the Seahawks dominated the Patriots to win Seattle’s second NFL title.

>Emmanwori participated in the team’s organized team activities (OTAs) and minicamp practices in May into June. He said in mid-June he had spent the offseason doing “a lot” of rehabilitation, inside the team’s Virginia Mason Athletic Center plus back on the East Coast near the 22-year old’s South Carolina home.

>Yet he didn’t feel the ankle getting fully healthy as June became July. So he and the team opted for arthroscopic surgery this month. That was prior to Emmanwori reporting to training camp this past week.

>Macdonald confirmed Saturday the surgery was to repair the injury Emmanwori sustained contesting a pass late in practice the Wednesday before the Super Bowl.

>“So it’s the ankle from the Super Bowl,” Macdonald said. “I guess the best way to describe it is, it’s something he’s been dealing with since the Super Bowl. He was able to perform, was able to train and do some things in the offseason program. But (he) just go to the point where it was the best for him, really just best for him in the long term, just go get it fixed. So that’s what he all decided to do.

>“Really, (it’s) the best for him for now and the foreseeable future, the rest of his career.”

No PUP list for Tory Horton.

The WR is onto the field for the first #Seahawks training-camp practice, after season-ending shin injury last November.@thenewstribune@933KJRpic.twitter.com/s5239a7TBF

— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) July 25, 2026Emmanwori went on the Seahawks’ physically-unable-to-perform list this week. He can return to practice in training camp at any time, after he passes a team physical exam. Meanwhile, he counts against the 90-man roster for the preseason.

>Players on the PUP list to begin training camp are eligible to begin the regular season on it, if they don’t practice at any point between now and the first week of September. A player on PUP list to begin the season must miss a minimum of the first four games.

>“We don’t have, necessarily, a timetable. It’s not like we lost him for the season, or anything,” Macdonald said.

>“You know me. I don’t want to put a time on it. But it’s not a serious thing where you’re looking at any long-term consideration.”

D’Anthony Bell, c’mon down!For now, it appears 29-year-old veteran D’Anthony Bell is gaining the most from Emmanwori’s absence.

>In the first practice of training camp, Macdonald had Bell playing Emmanwori’s usual role of safety coming down toward the edge of the line of scrimmage as a strongside “Sam” linebacker in passing situations with extra defensive backs on the starting defense.

>Bell signed with Seattle last preseason after three seasons and seven career starts with the Cleveland Browns. He was on and off the Seahawks’ practice squad while appearing in 14 games. He played mostly on special teams, with only 11% of Seattle’s defensive snaps.

The team waived Bell in December. The Carolina Panthers signed him off waivers.

>Carolina waived him in January, after its season ended. The Seahawks re-signed Bell in March.

>Rookie third-round draft choice Julian Neal was the backup playing Emmanwori’s role on the second-team defense Saturday.

>Rookie second-round pick Bud Clark was exclusively with the second-team defense in the first practice of camp. Clark was back at deep, conventional safety.