There’s quite a bit of uncertainty in the Seattle Seahawks secondary going into Week 2, for varying reasons.
The first reason is that Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald did not commit to Riq Woolen as one of the team’s starting cornerbacks on Sunday.
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The second is that the Seahawks have yet to decide if they will place rookie safety Nick Emmanwori on injured reserve due to a high-ankle sprain he suffered in their Week 1 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
Woolen, who is in his fourth NFL season, was in coverage on two of the biggest plays the 49ers made late in last Sunday’s game: a 45-yard pass from Brock Purdy to receiver Ricky Pearsall that put the Niners in the red zone inside of 3 minutes, and Jake Tonges’ go-ahead touchdown catch to cap off that same drive in the fourth quarter.
Jake Tonges had never caught a pass in the NFL before today.
He has three today. Including this one 🙌 pic.twitter.com/g1xMS2UXub
— NFL (@NFL) September 7, 2025
Asked during his weekly Wednesday press conference if Woolen would start on the road against the Steelers on Sunday, Macdonald responded, “We’ll see. We’ll see.”
“We had a similar situation last year,” Macdonald continued. “Every person we’ve had a conversation about what their role is going to be and things like that, I mean, you need to operate that as a coaching staff, keep it real with them, but they’ve been tremendous. Tell them with love, tell them the truth, and let’s go to work.”
Josh Jobe, who would be the likely choice to start opposite fellow cornerback Devon Witherspoon if Woolen doesn’t, received praise from Macdonald on Wednesday.
“This time last year, he wasn’t playing for us,” Macdonald said. “And this is a guy that has come in and really bought into the process, and the details matter for him and he does it every day. There’s a consistency there that you respect, and he’s earned these opportunities, which is really cool.
“If you were the coach of a team, wouldn’t you want it to work like that? Like, guys coming in, earning their opportunities, developing, growing as players, as people – that’s what he’s done.”
As for Emmanwori, he almost certainly will not play Sunday, but the Seahawks are taking their time assessing his status this week because he would have to miss at least the next four games once placed on IR.
Macdonald said Monday that placing Emmanwori on IR was “under consideration” and that if the Seahawks were to put him on IR, “it would be probably the next day or two.” He explained Wednesday the Seahawks had reconsidered that position.
“So I said (Monday) that we’re gonna have a decision here in the next day or two. I think we’re going to take it throughout the week to decide what we’re going to do,” Macdonald said.
Emmanwori is one of the more intriguing new players on the Seahawks’ roster. Seattle picked him in the second round of April’s NFL Draft (35th overall) and said they considered using their first-round selection on the South Carolina product. Listed as a safety, the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Emmanwori is highly versatile, and the Seahawks plan to use him at multiple positions.
The Seahawks’ Week 2 game at Pittsburgh will kick off at 10 a.m. Sunday. Radio coverage on Seattle Sports will begin at 7 a.m. with the pregame show.
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