RENTON, Wash. — Seattle Seahawks nickelback Nick Emmanwori is questionable for Wednesday night’s season opener against the New England Patriots, the team announced Tuesday. Projected starting safety Ty Okada has been ruled out with a hamstring injury.Emmanwori, 22, had ankle surgery in July and was limited during training camp. He has returned to the practice field in recent weeks, but not as a full participant. He was officially listed as limited this week, and most of his teammates have not sounded optimistic about his chances to play in the opener.On Monday, coach Mike Macdonald said Emmanwori “looked great” in practice, doing “the most he’s done” this week. On Sunday, linebacker Ernest Jones IV stressed how important Emmanwori, who ranked third on the team in tackles (81) as a rookie in 2025, is to Seattle’s defense.“We can’t wait to get him back,” Jones said. “But, for right now, we’re focused on who’s out there, who’s available right now. We know that when his time comes, he’s an alien. He can do whatever.”Can the Seahawks fend off the Rams in the NFC West?Andrew DestinEmmanwori, a second-round pick in 2025, also had 2.5 sacks, one interception and 11 pass breakups in his first NFL season.Alongside the league’s best scoring defense, he made life difficult for opposing quarterbacks. He was a key cog as the slot defender in Seattle’s nickel package, which Macdonald loves to use. Last season, the Seahawks deployed at least five defensive backs a league-high 92.6 percent of the time, per TruMedia.If Emmanwori does not play Wednesday, he is not expected to be out for long, which is why Seattle did not place him on injured reserve. That would have ruled him out for at least the first four games.On Saturday, Seattle signed safety D’Anthony Bell to the practice squad. Bell appeared in 14 games with two starts for the Seahawks last year but wrapped up the 2025 season with the Carolina Panthers. He re-signed with Seattle over the offseason, then was cut when rosters were trimmed to 53 players on Aug. 30.Bell could be elevated to Seattle’s active roster for Wednesday’s game and fill Emmanwori’s spot on the depth chart, if needed. He could also help replace Okada.“D-Bell’s got so much versatility, and it allows us to do things and put him in spaces at times, and he can do multiple jobs,” defensive coordinator Aden Durde said. “It’s not like he’s a jack of all trades, master of none, no. He’s a good safety too, but it allows you to move him around in the box.”Besides Okada and Emmanwori, the Seahawks have only one safety on the active roster, Pro Bowler Julian Love. Second-round rookie Bud Clark, who was expected to help replace departed free agent Coby Bryant, was lost for the season after breaking his ankle in August.However, the Seahawks have four safeties on the practice squad: Bell; Rodney Thomas II, who dealt with a hand injury during training camp but returned for the preseason finale; AJ Finley, who missed all of the 2025 season with a knee injury; and Maxen Hook, a 2025 undrafted free agent out of Toledo. The Seahawks can elevate two players from the practice squad for the game.If Emmanwori doesn’t play, Macdonald and Durde could turn to a cornerback such as Avery Smith. The Seahawks acquired Smith, an undrafted rookie who played with Hook at Toledo, from the Los Angeles Chargers on Aug. 30 in exchange for a 2027 sixth-round pick.“He has an understanding of the defense because there’s a lot of concepts with the Los Angeles Chargers that we have,” Durde said of Smith. “He’s just pushing it, runs to the ball — right type of mentality.”Eighty-seven of Smith’s 137 defensive snaps (63.5 percent) during the preseason came in the slot, per TruMedia. At Toledo, where Smith was a two-year starter, he played nickel, field and boundary corner as a senior.“I can play anywhere in the back end,” Smith said. “(I’m) a guy that really just wants to win. So, I’m just trying to go out there and make plays for the team.”On Aug. 19, Seattle signed two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Trevon Diggs, who is now on the practice squad. Diggs was released during roster cutdowns, largely because of his late arrival, and is a candidate to join the active roster in the near future. If Diggs entered the lineup, he would likely play on the outside, with All-Pro Devon Witherspoon bumping into the slot.Durde said Sunday he thinks Diggs knows enough of Seattle’s playbook to take the field at this point.“He’s still got it,” Durde said of Diggs. “He hasn’t played football in a long time. It’s a process of just getting everything back underneath you and having the daily routine of getting your body right in practice, and he’s doing that.”