Seattle Seahawks EDGE Uchenna Nwosu 'Absolutely' Will Be Ready For Training Camp

Missing more than half of the 2023 season with a torn pectoral muscle, Uchenna Nwosu continues to make great progress towards returning to the field for the Seattle Seahawks.

Oct 30, 2022; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks linebacker Uchenna Nwosu (10) celebrates / Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

RENTON, Wash. - All smiles as he took the podium following day three of the Seattle Seahawks offseason program, Uchenna Nwosu has no doubts he will be ready to roll when training camp comes around in late July.

While Nwosu wouldn't be quite ready to play in a game if the new season started today as he continues an extensive recovery from a torn pectoral muscle that cost him most of last season, he has made tremendous progress and has been able to participate in some of Seattle's workouts this week. In addition, he's been diving into a new playbook with coach Mike Macdonald and his staff taking over, placing extra emphasis on the mental side of the game as he rehabs.

"It's been a good process," Nwosu told reporters at the VMAC on Wednesday. "I've been rehabbing down in L.A. with John Meyer. He's also the medical guy with the Los Angeles Clippers, so he's getting me right and I just can't wait to get back on the field. I'll probably say in a few weeks, I'll be ready to get back to ball."

When asked if he expects to be ready for training camp, Nwosu firmly responded, "Absolutely."

While he only had two sacks in six games before suffering a torn pectoral, the Seahawks run defense self-destructed without Uchenna Nwosu last season. / Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Typically, one player shouldn't have much of a bearing on defensive performance, but in the case of Nwosu, the Seahawks struggled mightily after he exited in the second half of a Week 7 win over the Cardinals at Lumen Field. Placed on injured reserve a few days later and undergoing surgery, the coaching staff struggled to find a way to compensate for his absence, particularly against the run.

Before Nwosu suffered the torn pectoral injury while diving to make a tackle, Seattle found itself in the midst of a renaissance season defending opposing run games. After ranking 30th in the league in rushing yards allowed in 2022, for the first six weeks of the season, the team sat in the top five in rushing yardage allowed (396) and yards per carry (3.2) and had yet to give up more than 3.9 yards per carry in any of their first five contests.

Unfortunately, it didn't take long for cracks to show up in the armor once the Seahawks lost Nwosu. In their first two games without his presence off the edge, the Browns and Ravens rushed through and around them with 453 yards and four touchdowns while averaging 5.6 yards per carry on the ground.

The situation briefly looked to have improved in the two games that followed, as Seattle allowed only 150 rushing yards and 3.7 yards per carry in a win over Washington and loss to Los Angeles. But those performances proved to be little more than a mirage as then-coordinator Clint Hurtt's defense continued to function like aged Swiss cheese against the run and all Nwosu could do was watch as he recoved from the first serious injury of his NFL career.

"It wasn't good. I've never been injured in my career," Nwosu remarked. "Never really any time at all. I'd missed three games in six years before last year, so it was tough not getting to play."

Closing out the season losing four of their final seven games, the Seahawks yielded at least 136 rushing yards in each of those contests, including yielding 200-plus rushing yards against the Steelers and Cardinals in the final two games. During that span, they surrendered a staggering 1,226 yards and 13 rushing touchdowns with teams averaging five yards per carry, badly missing Nwosu's leadership and toughness.

To put those struggles in perspective, nine different teams gave up fewer than 13 rushing touchdowns for the entire 2023 season. If they would have maintained their pace for all 17 games, they would have approached giving up 3,000 rushing yards for the year, entering historically inept territory in the same zip code as the 1978 Bills, who allowed a record 3,228 rushing yards.

Like any player who misses extended time injured, Nwosu hated not being able to contribute and help out his team as they limped down the stretch and ultimately missed the postseason. Still, he looked for positives while staying fully engaged in his rehab and the time away from the field provided an opportunity for reflection while healing his body and mind.

"It sucked. But it made me sit back and realize how thankful I am to come this far without any serious injuries," Nwosu said. "Just being able to give my body a rest and I guess mentally take some time away from the game, I really appreciate it more. It's been great."

With Nwosu on the mend and expecting to potentially be able to participate in OTAs starting in May, the Seahawks will happily welcome back one of their unsung leaders on defense as they transition into a new era under Macdonald. As one of the few veterans returning from last year's team, the onus will fall on him to help younger players and newcomers around him adapt to a new system, but he looks forward to those challenges and already senses a tighter bond developing between players in the locker room with a new regime in charge.

Between the lines, given his previous background excelling as a 3-4 outside linebacker with the Chargers and the Seahawks, Nwosu sees his talents as the ideal fit for Macdonald's scheme. His burst as an upfield rusher should complement Boye Mafe on the other side, while the team will undoubtedly be ecstatic about his return setting a firm edge against the run, as Pro Football Focus ranked him 14th out of 120 qualified edge defenders with a 9.3 percent run stop rate last season.

After posting a career-high 9.5 sacks and 61 quarterback pressures in 2022 and receiving a lucrative contract extension last August, a full healthy Nwosu expects to see his game ascend to another level in a defense that fully maximizes his skill set and looks forward to seeing how everything comes together in the next several months leading up to the season.

"I'm an athlete. I can pretty much do anything, so no matter what system it is, I feel like I can run with it. His system is going to just elevate me to another level and I can't wait to see it."