Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori ‘confident’ in status for Sunday

The Super Bowl LX matchup between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks seemed to take a potential turn on Wednesday night, when it was reported that star rookie safety Nick Emmanwori suffered an ankle injury during practice. Emmanwori, a second-round pick, played 84% of Seattle's defensive snaps this regular season. His combination of size and athleticism makes him a key piece in head coach Mike Macdonald's defense.

Following the report the only immediate added context of Emmanwori's injury was a video of him limping back into the team hotel on Wednesday night. Thursday came with much more information though. During Seattle's media availability, both Macdonald and Emmanwori sounded encouraged about the rookie's status for Sunday.

"He rolled his ankle yesterday, and he's got a low ankle sprain," Macdonald told reporters. "He's going to do the walkthrough today, not sure how extensive, if at all, he's going to practice. But he's confident, we've got a great plan, fully expect him to play."

"He's doing great and moving around. We've just got to make sure we handle it the right way," Macdonald added. "We're probably going to be overly careful and over cautious at this point to make sure we're rolling going into the weekend."

As for Emmanwori himself?

"I’m good. I expect to play on Sunday,” he said on Thursday, via Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic. Asked if he thinks he'll be limited if/when he does play on Sunday he added, "nah. Once I’m out there my adrenaline will be pumping. Last game of the season, so I’ll be good to go.”

Prior to speaking, Emmanwori walked to the podium in front of cameras. He was still moving with a visible limp, but not as significant as the one seen the prior evening.

We'll get a better understanding of his level of participation later on Thursday. The team will release an updated injury report, and there will be another pool report.