What happens now with Seahawks’ Emmanwori a surprise on PUP list

The Seattle Seahawks left fans nervous Monday afternoon when it was announced the team would place a trio of players on the active/physically unable to perform (PUP) list to start training camp, including star safety Nick Emmanwori.

Bump’s hope about Nick Emmanwori on Seahawks’ PUP list

What does it mean for the defense, and how long is he out? Let’s break down what we know.

What happens next with Nick Emmanwori on PUP?

The active/PUP list that Emmanwori was placed on is only an option during training camp. A player counts toward the team’s 90-man roster but does not take part in practices. He can be activated at any point, rather than be forced to miss the minimum four weeks that a reserve/PUP designation at the time of the final roster cutdown would require.

Without any indication on what Emmanwori’s injury is, there’s no real timeline to follow. But the Seahawks have been careful with players in the past.

Back in 2023, cornerback Riq Woolen (recovering from knee surgery), linebacker Jordyn Brooks (coming off a torn ACL) and safety Jamal Adams (coming off a torn quad) all started training camp on the active/PUP list. All returned during camp – Woolen on Aug. 7, Brooks on Aug. 15 and Adams on Aug. 24.

We won’t hear anything about Emmanwori, nor get updates for any other players, until the first day of camp on Saturday, July 25. Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald is scheduled to speak with reporters after practice around 2:45 p.m. (check SeattleSports.com for updates).

Who’s the next man up?

There’s no perfect replacement for Emmanwori, who occupies a unique hybrid position and brings uncommon size (6 foot 3, 200 pounds) as the biggest safety on Seattle’s defense. There are, though, some intriguing names in that safety room.

When Emmanwori suffered a high-ankle sprain in last year’s season opener, the Seahawks elevated D’Anthony Bell from the practice squad and started him in Weeks 2 and 3. When Seattle feared Emmanwori could miss the Super Bowl with another ankle injury, the assumption was that backup-turned-breakout player Ty Okada would see more reps or that Macdonald would experiment with the versatile Coby Bryant, the latter of whom departed this spring in free agency.

Overall, it was Okada — filling in for a number of safeties all season— who had a breakout year with a career high 11 starts, and you’d assume that role expands early with training camp kickoff next week. Also in the room is rookie Bud Clark, one of Seattle’s smaller safeties who packs a Devon Witherspoon-esque punch in terms of energy.

What about Bud?

Clark (6-1, 188 pounds) is a smaller safety compared to the hard-hitting Emmanwori with a different set of skills a ballhawk, but NFL analyst Brian Baldinger was still quick with praise for him in an interview with us on Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy earlier this spring.

“There’s not (another) player in college football that left this year with 15 (career) interceptions,” Baldinger said. “I mean, he’s got ball skills, and they do travel. His anticipation and how he reads routes – it’s not gonna surprise me to see him take it away a few times.”

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