A pair of well-known sports medicine doctors on social media have shared their thoughts on the ankle injury suffered by standout Seattle Seahawks rookie safety Nick Emmanwori in practice Wednesday, just days ahead of the Super Bowl.
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A TikTok video that made its way onto X showed Emmanwori getting out of a vehicle and walking into a hotel on Wednesday night, favoring his right leg while doing so.
David J. Chao, who goes by the handle @ProFootballDoc, said the way Emmanwori walks in the video signals a “likely right inversion ankle sprain.” Chao, who was the head team doctor of the NFL’s San Diego Chargers for 17 years and is now an injury expect for SiriusXM and FOX Sports Radio, added that he believed Emmanwori “would be out today but (Super Bowl 60 is three) days away.”
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Jesse Morse, whose handle is @DrJesseMorse, shared a more detailed assessment after seeing the same video of Emmanwori, describing the way he walked into the hotel as a “significant limp.” Morse believes Emmanwori’s ankle injury is a new one and not a re-aggravation of the high-ankle sprain that he suffered in Week 1 that kept him out of action for nearly a month.
“Upon further review this appears to be a new injury to his right ankle, not an exact reinjury to his old Week 1 injury, likely to the medial aspect of the right ankle, but it’s not blatantly obvious which ligaments are affected the most,” Morse wrote. “This is unlikely to be a high-ankle sprain, especially since he’s not on crutches or in a boot.”
That’s potentially good news as a high-ankle sprain is generally a tougher injury to recover from than a normal ankle sprain. That being said, Morse wrote that the injury is “still very concerning nonetheless” and that “he will be VERY limited” should Emmanwori play in the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Emmanwori, who the Seahawks picked in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft out of South Carolina, is a versatile weapon who the Seahawks move between several positions on defense. He is a finalist for the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award that will announced during the NFL Honors ceremony on Thursday night after registering 11 passes defensed, one interception, 2.5 sacks, four QB hits, nine tackles for loss and 81 combined tackles in 14 games in the regular season. In two playoff games, Emmanwori has made four passes defensed, a fumble recovery and eight combined tackles.
Seahawks head Mike Macdonald didn’t have much to share about Emmanwori’s status after Wednesday’s practice.
“He had an ankle today, we brought him in to look at it, and we’ll kind of go from here and figure out what are the next steps,” Macdonald said.
Fellow Seahawks safety Coby Bryant had a more positive update on Emmanwori when he joined Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Thursday morning. Click here for more.
Radio coverage of the Super Bowl on Seattle Sports will begin with the Seahawks Radio Network pregame show at noon on Sunday. Seattle Sports 710 AM, KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM and the Seattle Sports, KIRO Newsradio and official Seahawks apps will be the only places where you can hear Steve Raible and Dave Wyman call the Super Bowl.
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