SAN JOSE, Calif. — Rookie safety Nick Emmanwori sustained an ankle injury as the Seattle Seahawks practiced Wednesday, four days before the NFC champions are set to face the AFC-best New England Patriots with an NFL championship on the line.
Super Bowl LX is set for 6:30 p.m. Eastern on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. The matchup between the Patriots (17-3) and the Seahawks (16-3) will be televised by NBC and streamed by Peacock.
According to a pool report, Emmanwori suffered the injury while defending a pass late in the practice held at San Jose State University, and several teammates and coaches walked over to Emmanwori to comfort him before he walked off the field on his own.
“He had an ankle today,” Macdonald told the pool reporter. “We brought him in to look at it, and we’ll kind of go from here and figure out what are the next steps.”
Emmanwori, a second-round pick in last April’s NFL draft, appeared in 14 games during the regular season and had 81 tackles, 2.5 sacks, one interception and 11 pass breakups. During the playoffs, Emmanwori has a fumble recovery and four passes defensed, including three in the NFC championship game.
Seahawks left tackle Charles Cross and his backup, Josh Jones, both of whom have been dealing with lower-body injuries, were limited in practice. Cross (foot) has been banged up since mid-December, though he played through his most recent injury during the NFC title contest, while Jones (ankle, knee) got hurt after filling in.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold played through an oblique injury during both of the playoff wins for the team, and he said before Wednesday’s practice that he doesn’t expect it to affect him in the Super Bowl.
Darnold said he still feels “really good,” just as he did before the Seahawks beat the visiting Los Angeles Rams 31-27 on Jan. 25 to win the NFC title.
“Definitely the time off has helped a little bit,” Darnold said. “I’m always just going to take it one step at a time, do my rehab, and do everything I need to do to make sure it feels great going into practice and going into the game, obviously on Sunday. It feels great.”
After his second straight Pro Bowl season, Darnold has excelled in the playoffs. In two games — the top-seeded Seahawks had a first-round by in the NFC playoffs — Darnold has completed 37 of 53 passes for 470 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions.
Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald said Darnold has gradually increased how many passes he has thrown in practice after being restricted earlier in the playoff run. Darnold has been limited in all eight practices since he injured his oblique on Jan. 15.
“Sam’s right on schedule,” Macdonald said after practice. “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.”
Meanwhile, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, who was limited in one practice last week with a right shoulder injury, was a full participant Wednesday.
Maye was added to the injury report after the Patriots’ 10-7 win over the Denver Broncos in the AFC title matchup, but he said he was not hurt during that game. He took all of the team’s first-team repetitions during a 90-minute practice Wednesday at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, according to a pool report released by the Pro Football Writers of America.
Maye said Monday that his shoulder improved enough that he had a normal workout on his first full day in the Bay Area during Super Bowl preparation. Maye had a breakout season, earning All-Pro second-team recognition and getting named a finalist for the league MVP and offensive player of the year awards, which will be announced during the NFL Honors show Thursday night.
May led the NFL during the most recent regular season with a 113.5 passer rating, a 72% completion rate and an average of 8.9 yards per attempt. Maye threw for 4,394 yards with 31 touchdown passes.
Linebacker Robert Spillane, who injured his ankle in the AFC championship game, was the only New England player who did not participate in Wednesday’s practice, according to the pool report.