How Did Uchenna Nwosu Perform in Return to Seahawks' Lineup?

Playing 21 snaps in his first game in more than a month, Uchenna Nwosu looked healthy for the Seahawks and most importantly, avoided another injury in Arizona.

Dec 8, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Seattle Seahawks linebacker Uchenna Nwosu (10) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

RENTON, Wash. - Finally returning to the field after a third significant injury in a calendar year, the Seattle Seahawks expectedly had veteran edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu on a pitch count in Sunday's 30-18 win over the Arizona Cardinals, easing him back into action.

Coming off injured reserve earlier in the week after recovering from a torn thigh, Nwosu played 21 out of 71 defensive snaps, or 30 percent of Seattle's plays. With those opportunities, he produced a single tackle and a quarterback hit on Kyler Murray, and after making it out of the game without any issues, coach Mike Macdonald hopes the team will be able to ramp up his workload moving forward.

"It was great to have him out there. He played really hard," Macdonald said on Monday. "We're still on a coming-back-to-play type of plan, so that'll continue this week. We'll see if it's a full workload or not by the end of the week going into Sunday, but we're just excited to have him back, and then his role will grow here as we keep moving forward. But excited to have him back."

Statistically, Nwosu had a somewhat quiet performance, and he showed the most rust after another lengthy layoff in the pass rushing department. The Cardinals did a good job of limiting his effectiveness on speed rushes and he often found himself in a stalemate unable to shed blocks at the top of his rush, though that may have been by design in part for the Seahawks with a more conservative rushing plan aiming to keep Kyler Murray from exiting the pocket.

On 17 pass rushing reps, per Pro Football Focus charting, Nwosu didn't register a pass rushing "win," resulting in a zero percent Pass Rush Win rate. However, on Arizona's final offensive drive, he knocked guard Trystan Colon to the ground stunting inside and made his way to Murray to deliver a quarterback hit as he threw, showcasing the quickness penetrating the pocket that helped him produce 9.5 sacks for Seattle just two years ago.

Uchenna Nwosu showed more rust in the pass rushing game with only one pressure, but he finished on a strong note knocking guard over on stunt and then hitting Kyler Murray right as he threw here.#Seahawks pic.twitter.com/r1W5WrdHdk

— Corbin K. Smith (@CorbinSmithNFL) December 11, 2024

In the run game, Nwosu made a significant impact in a limited sample size. Though he only had one tackle on four plays, he created opportunities for teammates by handling his gap assignments and playing with great physicality at the line of scrimmage, executing the dirty work necessary to slow down opposing ball carriers.

On his first play of the afternoon, Nwosu took on pulling tackle Paris Johnson Jr. coming across the line of scrimmage and stood the blocker up, forcing running back James Conner to cut back to his left into the arms of Leonard Williams and Tyrice Knight for a one-yard loss. While his name won't show up on the box score, that tackle belonged to the veteran linebacker as much as Williams and Knight for collapsing down on the puller and eliminating the conceptualized running lane.

Later in the third quarter, Nwosu demonstrated a similar effort on a counter run, slamming into pulling guard Evan Brown and knocking the blocker backward. After the initial hit forced Conner to again cut back to his left with the run lane shut down, he shed the block and teamed up with Knight to bring down the back for a minimal gain, eventually leading to a Cardinals punt.

Uchenna Nwosu's first play back from injury... He doesn't make tackle here, but he does great job taking on block from pulling tackle, forcing running back to cut back into Leonard Williams and Tyrice Knight. #Seahawks pic.twitter.com/zKngP7MJ78

— Corbin K. Smith (@CorbinSmithNFL) December 11, 2024

With four games left to play, Nwosu should see an uptick in snaps starting on Sunday night against the Packers, which will have ripple effects on the rest of the Seahawks' edge group. Boye Mafe, Derick Hall, and Dre'Mont Jones will see slight dips in snap percentage, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing, as keeping all four players fresh will allow them have more juice in the pass rushing department for four quarters and make it easier for Macdonald to send them after the quarterback in waves.

As he gets his feet back underneath him, Seattle will be counting on Nwosu rounding back into his pre-injury form, and he showed flashes of that ability with a limited workload in Arizona that should generate optimism he can return to that level of play. If he does, a defense that already ranks first in points allowed over the past four games has a chance to be even more dominant down the stretch, which will only improve the team's chances of hanging on to win the NFC West.

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