Seahawks Announce Bad News Before Patriots Game

The Seattle Seahawks will open their Super Bowl defense Wednesday night against the New England Patriots without starting safety Ty Okada after the team listed him as out with a hamstring injury on its final injury report.

The timing leaves a already thin secondary even thinner just hours before kickoff at Lumen Field.

Seattle kept only three safeties on the initial 53-man roster: Okada, Nick Emmanwori and Julian Love. Emmanwori is questionable after ankle surgery in July to address an issue that dated to Super Bowl LX.

He began training camp on the physically unable to perform list, passed his physical in mid-August, and has gradually increased his practice work.

Head coach Mike Macdonald noted Monday that Emmanwori had done more than in previous sessions. Wide receiver Tory Horton is also questionable with a hamstring issue of his own.

The shortage at safety is not new. Coby Bryant departed in free agency and rookie Bud Clark suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the preseason, so Okada entered the year as a central piece of Macdonald’s defense.

The former undrafted free agent played every game last season, started 11 of them, and recorded 65 tackles, six passes defensed, 1.5 sacks and an interception. His absence forces an immediate adjustment.

Seattle anticipated the possibility. The club signed veteran D’Anthony Bell back to the practice squad on September 5, four days before the opener, and currently has four safeties there: Bell, Rodney Thomas II, AJ Finley and Maxen Hook.

Game-day elevations, usually a routine transaction, now carry extra weight. Bell spent most of last season with the Seahawks before finishing the year in Carolina, making him a logical candidate if the team needs extra bodies.

Emmanwori’s status matters even more because of how Seattle uses him. As a rookie he lined up near the line of scrimmage as often as he played deep, covering receivers and tight ends, rushing the passer and functioning like an extra linebacker. He finished with 81 tackles, nine tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, 11 passes defensed and an interception, placing second in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting.

If he plays, Love and whoever is elevated will still have to cover for Okada. If he cannot go, the Seahawks would start the season without two of the three safeties they originally kept.

The Patriots game therefore becomes an early test of roster flexibility as much as of scheme. Macdonald’s defense has been built on versatility in the secondary; Wednesday night it will have to prove it can still function when that versatility is suddenly reduced.