RENTON — The Seahawks took a significant step to becoming whole on defense Sunday, announcing that rush end Uchenna Nwosu has passed his physical and is now eligible to practice.
Nwosu began training camp on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list while still recovering from offseason knee surgery.
Coach Mike Macdonald said Nwosu is “going to be back with us’’ on the field soon under a plan to gradually ramp up his work.
Had Nwosu stayed on the PUP list when the regular season began, he would have had to miss at least the first four games.
Now he is eligible to play immediately, though Macdonald said it’s still unclear when Nwosu may be ready to play.
“It’s probably too early to come to any conclusions,’’ Macdonald said. “But we have a preliminary timetable that gets us around the beginning of the season. There are some checkpoints we have to hit along the way. The first thing is to do an individual (drill), going through (a) walk-through, staying sharp mentally. He’ll be ready on all that, but we have to get through that first.”
Nwosu spent Sunday’s practice working to the side with a trainer.
Seattle has veteran free agent signee DeMarcus Lawrence and veterans Boye Mafe and Derick Hall set as three of their pass rushers.
Nwosu is penciled in as the other member of what would ideally be a four-man edge-rush rotation on gameday.
But that came with the assumption he would be recovered from knee surgery to repair an injury he suffered in the preseason a year ago.
That injury, as well as a thigh injury suffered late in the 2024 season, held Nwosu to just six games with just one sack. He also played just six games in 2023 due to a pec injury, which came after he signed a three-year, $45 million extension in the wake of recording 9.5 sacks and 26 quarterback hits in 2022.
The injuries and missed games led to Nwosu agreeing to a new contract in the offseason that included a $6.69 million pay cut in exchange for $6.98 million guaranteed this season.
Nwosu, though, has no guaranteed money in the final year of his contract in 2026.
The uncertainty over Nwosu’s readiness and his contract situation helped fuel conjecture that the Seahawks could be in the market for a veteran pass rusher to fill out the depth.
A run at a player such as Dallas’ Micah Parsons, embroiled in a contract dispute, is viewed as unlikely, but some speculated the Seahawks could sign Jadeveon Clowney, who played with the Ravens when Macdonald was the defensive coordinator in 2023.
Nwosu being back, though, could mean Seattle feels content with what it has on its roster, especially with some young players who have had good camps and figure to end up at least on the practice squad.
“It’s exciting, because to my knowledge, we’re ahead of schedule, which is cool,’’ Macdonald said. “I know Uchenna has been working his tail off, which is par for the course for him. Our training staff had a great plan, guy has done a great job. He’s going to be back with us. We have a plan to ramp him up here over the course of the rest of training camp, going into the first game (Sept. 7 against the 49ers at Lumen Field), and gives us the option to possibly get out there early in the season.”
Will Walker get snaps at Green Bay?
Fourth-year running back Kenneth Walker III has yet to play in the preseason and has also missed some significant practice time while dealing with a sore foot that dates to the spring.
Macdonald last week said the team had a plan on how to handle Walker in training camp and was sticking to it.
That plan appears to include hoping that Walker gets some work when the Seahawks hold a full-contact joint practice Thursday against the Packers in Green Bay, Wis.
Walker participated fully in Sunday’s practice, when the Seahawks were in helmets and shells.
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“He looks great,’’ Macdonald said. “He is fast. He is hitting his targets, reading it out pretty well. It’s exciting to have him out there. When he has been out there, it’s been really good.”
But Macdonald indicated the Seahawks would like to see a little bit more of Walker out there.
“It is a balance,’’ he said of managing Walker’s health with getting him practice snaps. “You just have to make the best decision you can. There are a lot of walk-through reps that need to be had. But at some point, you have to do it on the field, so you feel confident to go out there and execute at a high level and play your best football. So that is something that we are working through, and he is doing the best he can, and we are doing the best we can as a coaching staff. We just have to work together on those things as it unfolds.”
Asked if Walker will take part in the joint practice, Macdonald said, “the plan is yes.’’
Walker, Zach Charbonnet and George Holani worked with the first-team offense in practice Sunday.
Macdonald ‘optimistic’ LB Knight back for Week 1
Starting weakside linebacker Tyrice Knight remains out while recovering from a knee injury as well as an undisclosed medical issue.
Macdonald said the hope remains that Knight will be ready for Week 1.
“We are going to get some information in a few days that will have some more clarity on his situation,’’ Macdonald said. “I would say (we are) optimistic.”
Patrick O’Connell started in place of Knight in Friday’s 33-16 preseason win over the Kansas City Chiefs, but Drake Thomas has also gotten snaps there as has Jamie Sheriff.
Horton sits out, but injury not severe
Rookie receiver Tory Horton sat out after leaving Friday’s game with an ankle injury.
“He’s working through it,’’ Macdonald said.
Asked if the injury is severe, though, Macdonald said, “Not to my knowledge.’’
With Horton out, veteran Marquez Valdes-Scantling typically worked with the starting offense at receiver alongside Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp on Sunday.
Seahawks’ goal? ‘To be relentless’’
Macdonald appeared to have an animated talk with players as practice got going Sunday. He downplayed it later, smiling and saying “that wasn’t anything.’’
Macdonald, though, acknowledged it’s important for the team to remain playing and practicing with an edge in the wake of the big win over Kansas City.
“This is a great opportunity to be relentless,’’ he said. “Let’s be popping out of our skin every time we get a chance to take the field and play our style of ball, that’s the expectation. We had a really good practice today. Guys flew around, I thought we executed well, the offense did some great things there in the red zone. Defensively, it felt like we had a great start to practice. We’ll watch the tape at the end, see how it finished up, especially with the young guys, but I thought the guys did a really good job today.”
The offensive red-zone success Sunday included two straight TD passes by Sam Darnold in a 7-on-7 session to Elijah Arroyo and Kupp.
Tuputala gets pick, advice from vets
Despite the offensive success noted above, the defense also got in on the action Sunday, including an interception by former Federal Way and UW standout Alphonzo Tuputala, who joined the team last week as added weakside linebacker depth.
Tuputala raced over to pick off a short pass thrown by Jalen Milroe intended for Valdes-Scantling.
Tuputala pulled up after beginning to make a return before a few veterans to sprint to the end zone and celebrate, with the likes of Devon Witherspoon, Shaquill Griffin and Coby Bryant joining in.
Tuputala played six snaps with one tackle against the Chiefs.
Bob Condotta: bcondotta@seattletimes.com. Bob Condotta covers the Seahawks for the Seattle Times. He provides daily coverage of the team throughout the year.