Nick Emmanwori after Seahawks’ Super Bowl injury scare: ‘Good to go for Sunday’
Nick Emmanwori’s playing.
So says Nick Emmanwori. And his coach.
The Seahawks appear to have dodged a potential big problem for their defense and hopes to win Super Bowl 60 on Sunday. Emmanwori, the do-it-all rookie central to coach Mike Macdonald’s plans on defense, says the right ankle he sprained in practice Wednesday is OK. Emmanwori says he will play Sunday against the New England Patriots, when the Seahawks try to win the second Super Bowl in the franchise’s 50-year history.
“Fully expect him to play,” Macdonald said Thursday morning.
The finalist for NFL defensive rookie of the year turned his right ankle leaping to defend a short pass outside, on an out route, late in practice Wednesday on a grass field at San Jose State University (the Super Bowl game field Sunday, Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara 10 miles away, is grass).
Emmanwori walked off the field, with a limp. He walked into an SUV that took him from practice, then walked with a limp into the team’s hotel in downtown San Jose. Imaging tests Wednesday night into Thursday showed no significant or structural damage. Seahawks team doctors and training staffers have developed a care and management plan for the next three-plus days until kickoff.
Emmanwori said he woke up Thursday encouraged by not feeling much pain.
“It was just toward the end of practice, I had just rolled my ankle. Kind of like caught me off guard,” he said. “Practice wasn’t crazy, or nothing. We weren’t going hard out there. Just kind of rolled it.
“I’ll be good to go for Sunday.”
Emmanwori said his latest issue is on the same ankle he injured on the fourth play of the season, week one against San Francisco in early September. That was a high-ankle sprain he got when teammate DeMarcus Lawrence fell onto the back of Emmanwori’s leg after the rookie tackled 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey for a loss.
Emmanwori missed the remainder of that game, plus three more games.
Coach Mike Macdonald Thursday morning described this injury for Emmanwori as a low-ankle sprain, the more traditional one of turning the joint. Those usually have days of recovery time, instead of the weeks or more for high-ankle sprains that involve ligament damage up the leg.
“It wasn’t as severe. I could walk off (the field) on my own,” Emmanwori said of practice Wednesday. “Just had to give it a chance to (settle down), give it a break.
“It feels good.” He called it “a little scare.”
Macdonald said the team will proceed conservatively with Emmanwori from now until the 3:30 p.m. kickoff of the Super Bowl on Sunday. The coach said he did not know how much Emmanwori will practice Thursday and Friday, if at all.
Emmanwori called it a “scare,” as if the injury is already past tense.
“Nobody really wants to get hurt, or banged up during the Super Bowl week — or any week, at that. So, it just kind of caught me off guard. Just a little scare.
“But imaging came back, doctors spoke, and we’ve got a good plan to go for Sunday.
“I’ll be fine. I’ll be good.”
This story was originally published February 5, 2026 at 1:08 PM with the headline "Nick Emmanwori after Seahawks’ Super Bowl injury scare: ‘Good to go for Sunday’."
