Seahawks' Nick Emmanwori Injured in Practice, Latest Updates Ahead of Super Bowl vs. Patriots

The Seattle Seahawks should have a key piece of their defense available for Sunday's Super Bowl matchup against the New England Patriots.

Rookie safety Nick Emmanwori had no game status on Friday's injury report, meaning he is good to go after practicing fully.

Per ESPN's Brady Henderson, Emmanwori suffered an ankle injury during practice on Wednesday. The injury occurred while he was defending a pass and he was able to walk off the field on his own.

On Thursday, head coach Mike Macdonald told reporters Emmanwori was dealing with a low-ankle sprain and is expected to be on the field Sunday:

Though just a rookie, Emmanwori has played a big role for Seattle this season, spending time at both the nickel corner and strongside linebacker positions depending on the Seahawks' scheme.

"It allows you to be versatile," Seahawks safety Julian Love said of his teammate, per NFL.com's Kevin Patra. "You can use him as an outside linebacker. Use him as a linebacker. Use him as a nickel. Use him as a corner. Use him as a safety. Whatever. It's an incredible X-factor. And there are few."

The second-round pick out of South Carolina has logged 81 tackles, 11 passes defended, 2.5 sacks and an interception this season. In Seattle's two playoff games, he's recorded eight tackles, four pass breakups and a fumble recovery. He had three pass breakups against the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC championship.

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"I think what's great about Nick is in addition — I mean, we all know, you can see the physical talent, physical ability — but his eagerness to learn and the sense of urgency for detail and his hunger to be great really stands out," Macdonald said. "Not a lot of guys that are that talented, really, are interested in doing the amount of work that it actually takes for those traits to come to life."

Along with Emmanwori, three others Seahawks players were limited on Wednesday in left tackle Charles Cross (foot) offensive tackle Josh Jones (foot/ankle) and fullback Robbie Ouzts (neck).

The good news for Seattle is that quarterback Sam Darnold is "right on schedule" after dealing with oblique injury in recent weeks.

"Sam's right on schedule," Macdonald said. "So we've had this plan here over the last X amount of weeks, and it varies every day. And today he had a great day, so we're right on schedule."