Seattle Seahawks starting safety Ty Okada missed his second straight day of practice in preparation for Wednesday’s season opener against the New England Patriots. Okada currently tries to work through a hamstring injury. With the game coming in two days, it seems very unlikely that he will suit up to play for the Seattle Seahawks.
The Seahawks currently have injury concerns in their defensive backfield with Nick Emmanwori still recovering from his ankle surgery from this offseason. However, Emmanwori was a limited participant in Monday’s practice, yet the expectation is that he is not a guarantee to play on Wednesday as well.
Seattle recently resigned D’Anthony Bell to their practice squad, who played multiple games last season for the Seahawks. They also have Rodney Thomas II on the practice squad, who also is a veteran presence. The Seahawks may have to promote both players in order to have the depth necessary at safety.
On a positive note, Anthony Bradford was upgraded to a full participant. A.J. Barner, Julian Neal, and Emanuel Wilson also practiced completely as well on Monday. Tory Horton and Josh Jones were limited participants; their status for Wednesday is currently unclear.
Seattle Seahawks Ty Okada Unlikely to Play Against the New England Patriots
With the Seahawks potentially missing Okada, Mike Macdonald will have to coach up their depth players to match up against Drake Maye, one of the best deep ball quarterbacks in the NFL. As long as the pass rush still generates pressure, that should preclude the Patriots from taking too many shots against the Seahawks secondary. However, the lack of depth in the secondary could prevent Macdonald from blitzing Devon Witherspoon like he did in the Super Bowl.
Okada started eleven games last season in mainly a reserve role behind fellow starter Julian Love and former Seahawks Coby Bryant, who left for the Chicago Bears. Okada totaled one interception, one and half sacks, and 65 combined tackles for the Seattle Seahawks. He impressed with his opportunities, giving Seattle confidence when they let Bryant walk in free agency.
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When the Seahawks originally cut Bell and Thomas, the moves perplexed because the general manager John Schneider opted not to roster any backups at safety. Yet, Bell and Thomas also appeared committed to Seattle, so a move elsewhere was unlikely. Bell was one of the players the Seahawks roster wished to receive a Super Bowl ring. The culture of Seattle has always surrounded “next man up” from even the Pete Carroll days. As we saw on HBO‘s Hard Knocks, the Seattle Seahawks call their practice squad the “ready squad.” Regardless of what happens for Wednesday, Macdonald has expectations for what Bell and Thomas can provide. Both are veterans with several years of starting chances on their belt.
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