By Andrew Destin The Athletic
With just 26 seconds remaining in Wednesday night’s season opener against the New England Patriots, star Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba held his breath, hoping desperately that Seattle’s defense would step up.
As it often did during the Seahawks’ Super Bowl run, the unit that calls itself the Dark Side rose to the occasion. Cornerback Josh Jobe picked off Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, one of three fourth-quarter interceptions for the Seahawks, as they overcame a 10-point deficit and held on for a 13-10 win.
“We can always count on our defense, best defense in the league,” Smith-Njigba said postgame. “Just hard-nosed and super happy for Jobe. I was happy to see him go attack the ball and keep his feet in and look like a receiver right there.”
Jobe was hardly the only defensive back to stand out on a night when the Seahawks were short a few of them. Nickelback Nick Emmanwori, who had ankle surgery in July, sat out. So did safety Ty Okada, who is sidelined with a hamstring injury, and it’s unclear how long he will be sidelined, according to coach Mike Macdonald.
With Emmanwori and Okada unavailable, Seattle inserted safety Rodney Thomas II, who was elevated from the practice squad for Wednesday’s game, into the starting lineup. Thomas demonstrated why he was once a regular starter, doing so for 26 games over the last four seasons with the Indianapolis Colts.
The 28-year-old delivered a pair of stellar plays, both of which Macdonald commended him on. On second-and-12 with under nine minutes to go in the third quarter, Thomas was all over a swing pass to New England’s DeMario Douglas, holding the wide receiver to a 1-yard gain en route to Seattle forcing a three-and-out.
“The play he made in the flat on one of (Devon Witherspoon’s) pressures was a tremendous play,” Macdonald said. “Making an open-field tackle, running out of the post on a hot throw in the flat for, like, a no-yard gain. That’s something he’s been working on, and it shows you that if you put intent behind areas of improvement, you can make all that stuff come to life.”
Perhaps more importantly, Thomas paved the way for Seattle’s first interception. When Maye took a shot down the left sideline for wide receiver Romeo Doubs with 14:27 to go in the fourth quarter, Thomas timed his pass breakup perfectly.
The deflected ball popped straight in the air and neatly settled into cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett’s hands. Thomas finished the evening with four tackles and one pass defensed, much to Macdonald’s excitement.
“He should be proud of himself,” Macdonald said. “But it’s just the beginning.”
Seattle’s performance without a few key defensive backs stood in stark contrast to a season ago.
The NFL’s top-scoring defense was without both Witherspoon and Julian Love on Oct. 5, 2025, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, while Emmanwori was just returning after an injury in the season opener. Quarterback Baker Mayfield torched Seattle’s secondary for 379 passing yards and 38 points, the most the Seahawks gave up in a game last season, in a 38-35 win for the Buccaneers.
Though Emmanwori’s absence was still felt on Wednesday, the rest of Seattle’s secondary — familiar and unfamiliar names alike — delivered in a dominating way. In between Pritchett’s and Jobe’s interceptions was one by Love, who jumped a pass intended for Douglas on third-and-14 with 9:25 to go in the fourth quarter.
[](https://thumb.spokesman.com/udYIZmjg89LJadfqEhhbHYXapJc=/2500x0/smart/media.spokesman.com/photos/2026/09/14/6aa81cae717a6.hires.jpg)
Julian Love (20) had six tackles, an interception and a pass deflection in the Seahawks’ Week 1 win over the Patriots. (Getty Images)
Love, who is in his fourth season with the Seahawks but was limited to eight games last year because of a hamstring injury, had six tackles (two for loss) and a pass deflection.
“Julian Love played his best game as a Seahawk,” Macdonald said, “and that’s saying something.”
Aside from Love, Macdonald was also pleased with Pritchett, who was tied for the third-most tackles (six) on the team versus New England. Linebacker Ernest Jones IV led the way with 13 tackles, while Drake Thomas wasn’t far behind with nine.
Pritchett appeared in all 17 regular-season games for Seattle last year, yet he wasn’t much of a tackler, logging 14 in total. His coverage on the outside was solid against Patriots wide receivers like Mack Hollins and A.J. Brown. But what impressed Macdonald most was that Pritchett wasn’t afraid to join his fellow defensive backs in lowering his shoulder when necessary.
“He had some great tackles,” Macdonald said. “Our whole secondary did.”
“It’s beautiful to see one of the young guys step up and command his role like Nehemiah,” added veteran edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence. “He’s definitely going to be a star in this league.”
Seattle’s secondary might look a bit different soon. Emmanwori has recently returned to the practice field and continues to inch closer to game action. Once he’s cleared to play, Thomas could head back to the bench.
Rookie cornerback Avery Smith, whom the Seahawks acquired from the Los Angeles Chargers on Aug. 30 for a 2027 sixth-round pick, did not play Wednesday. Neither did two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Trevon Diggs, who signed a one-year deal on Aug. 19 but is on Seattle’s practice squad as he gets up to speed.
Defensive coordinator Aden Durde said he thinks Diggs, 28 on Sunday, has a solid enough grasp of Seattle’s playbook to take the field. Macdonald declined to say whether Diggs is close to being added to the 53-man roster.
“We’ll see. He’s doing a great job, though,” Macdonald said. “He’s been awesome. Great guy, buying into how we do things here, and an awesome guy to be around. The guys love him, so we’re excited to have him.”
Whether Diggs or Smith becomes an impactful player in 2026, let alone sees the gridiron that often, will be determined in time. But Seattle’s secondary, which was subject to ample concerns last month when rookie safety Bud Clark went down with a season-ending ankle injury, proved in its first showing of the season it has plenty of quality depth to work with, despite the offseason departures of Coby Bryant and Riq Woolen.
Rookie third-round pick Julian Neal, who sat out most of training camp with a quad injury but was active Wednesday, did not play a snap on defense. When Emmanwori and Okada return, and Neal is fully healthy, it will only bolster a defense that was perhaps the NFL’s best in 2025 and could be even stronger in 2026.
The defensive backs who were on the field Wednesday, such as Jobe, were unfazed when the game’s outcome was in jeopardy. In the process, Seattle nailed its first test.
“We live in the death zone, and we came alive, and we took the ball away,” Jobe said of his interception. “That’s what we talked about throughout the week: take the ball away and keep our eye on the ball.”