Seattle Seahawks' Uchenna Nwosu Returning to Practice, No Update on DL Injuries

Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said Uchenna Nwosu should return to practice this week, but Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy II remain unknowns.

Oct 2, 2023; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) is sacked by Seattle Seahawks linebacker Uchenna Nwosu (10) in the second half at MetLife Stadium. / Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

The Seattle Seahawks might be without two of their top defensive linemen — Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy II — heading into their Week 4 game against the Detroit Lions. However, on a positive note, they may get starting edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu back on the field sometime soon.

Continuing to keep his cards close to his chest, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald gave no update on the severity of injuries sustained by Williams (ribs) and Murphy (hamstring) in Sunday’s Week 3 win over the Miami Dolphins, per The News Tribune’s Gregg Bell. Seattle doesn’t have to give an official update on practice participation until Wednesday.

Macdonald does, however, expect Nwosu to be back on the practice field this week but didn’t elaborate on what that means for his status Monday night, per Cascadiasports.net’s Mazvita Maraire. This may just be Nwosu ramping back up to a return that will be further out.

“We’re going to put him out there at some point this week and see how it goes,” Macdonald said of Nwosu. “[Nwosu will] get some team activities here in the next couple days.”

Nwosu suffered a sprained MCL in the Seahawks’ preseason finale versus the Cleveland Browns on Aug. 24. The team opted not to put him on injured reserve during final roster cutdowns with the expectation he could return by Week 4. If he misses the game against the Lions and returns in Week 5, it appears IR would have been the right choice.

To the Seahawks’ credit, it’s almost impossible to predict how fast a player will work back from an injury like Nwosu’s. They were optimistic initially.

Additionally, there is still no timeline for starting right tackle Abraham Lucas’ return, per Seahawks On SI’s Corbin K. Smith. Lucas would be eligible to return following the game against the Lions after beginning the season on the physically unable to perform list.

The status of Williams, Murphy and Nwosu will become clearer throughout the week as the team returns to practice. Seattle fared well even after the former duo went down on Sunday, but Detroit’s rushing and passing attack will both be more difficult to contain than the current Dolphins offense.

The Seahawks plugged the gaps primarily with an increase in snaps to Johnathan Hankins and Mike Morris, and those two must continue to play well if Seattle’s top options are held out in Week 4.