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Brady Henderson, ESPN
RENTON, Wash. — The Seattle Seahawks activated outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu off injured reserve Thursday, clearing the way for the team’s best edge defender to return Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals from his second significant injury of the season.
The first one, Nwosu believes, was the result of a “dirty play.”
On the opening drive of the Seahawks’ preseason finale against the Cleveland Browns, Nwosu suffered a sprained MCL after right guard Wyatt Teller dove at his left knee on a cut block. Nwosu had been flagged for roughing the passer one play earlier for a hit on Jameis Winston.
“I thought it was dirty, straight up,” Nwosu said of Teller’s block. “I didn’t like it. It’s preseason. We’re going to be in there like two drives, but it’s football. I get it, it’s football at the end of the day, but it was definitely a dirty play.”
The Browns were flagged for an illegal chop block, though running back Jerome Ford — who engaged Nwosu high as Teller was already blocking him low — was announced as the guilty party.
When asked by ESPN about the play in October, Nwosu chalked it up to being a part of football and said he had to better protect himself next time. But he had a much different tune Thursday. Without mentioning anyone by name, he said he also would have considered Teller’s block a dirty play had it occurred in a regular-season game.
“I know you’re allowed to cut,” he said. “But the way you cut, you can’t do it going back towards your own end zone, and that’s what he did to me, so that’s what made it dirty.”
Nwosu missed the first four games while recovering from his MCL sprain. That was among the rash of injuries that have sidetracked his career since he joined Seattle in free agency in 2022 and broke out with a career-high 9.5 sacks that season to earn a three-year, $45 million extension. Nwosu missed the final 11 games of 2023 because of a torn pectoral muscle. His return in Week 5 of this season from the MCL sprain was cut short after 20 plays because of a left quad injury.
“It’s been tough,” Nwosu said, noting that he had dealt with only minor injuries over his first five seasons before he tore his pec. “I feel like it’s really things that have kind of been out of my control, especially with the knee injury I had. And then one thing leads to another, so who knows. So just kind of just refiguring myself out, just trusting my process and knowing that I know my career is going to be great and I’ll still be the same player I am, and just continue to trust myself.”
General manager John Schneider previously described Nwosu’s quad injury as a “pretty intense” strain, but Nwosu said Thursday that it was torn.
“Talking to doctors, no surgery was needed,” he said. “I rehabbed, and I feel ready to go.”
Nwosu, 27, returned to practice last week. Now he returns to a resurgence defense that has vaulted the Seahawks to the top of the NFC West at 7-5 after three straight victories. He said he’s preparing to manage a full workload Sunday at Arizona. He averaged over 50 snaps per game in 2022, but Seattle’s defensive front is much deeper this season than it was then.
“That’s the guy right there,” defensive tackle Jarran Reed said. “He’s a guy that’s hungry. He’s a true leader. He can help the guys on the edge as well. Having him back is going to be huge. I think we are only going to get better.”
On the same day he was activated off IR, Nwosu was announced as the Seahawks’ nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award. He said his recent injuries have afforded him time to think about ways he can make a difference off the field.
“Even though, of course, my mind is still on football, always will be,” he said. “But when you have that extra time, you can think about things you want to do for the community. That’s just what I’ve been trying to use to distract myself a little bit, not think so much about the injuries and be down on myself, just use this time to give back to the community and make myself feel better.”