Seahawks rule out LB Uchenna Nwosu for Thursday night game

RENTON, Wash. — If the Seattle Seahawks are going to end their five-game losing streak to the division-rival San Francisco 49ers, they’ll have to do it without their best edge defender.

Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said Monday that outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu won’t be available when Seattle hosts San Francisco at Lumen Field on Thursday night. Nwosu missed the first four games with an MCL sprain then had his season debut cut short Sunday when he went down with a thigh injury in the second quarter of the Seahawks’ loss to the New York Giants.

“We won’t get him back Thursday and then we’ll see here in the next few days if it’s going to be longer than that,” Macdonald said.

The Seahawks are also likely to be without rookie defensive tackle Byron Murphy II on Thursday night. Seattle’s first-round pick missed the last two games with a hamstring injury, and Macdonald said it looks like it’ll take another week to get him back.

Less clear are the statuses of cornerback Riq Woolen (ankle) and outside linebackers Boye Mafe (knee) and Derick Hall (foot). Woolen and Hall left Sunday’s game in the fourth quarter. Hall started against the Giants with Mafe out for a second straight game.

“Boye wants to play,” Macdonald said. “He’s working his tail off. It’s just a matter of if we can pull the trigger or not at this point, if it’s safe for him to go and he feels right, so we’ll see. It’s going to come down to the wire right now with Boye.”

Including playoffs, the Seahawks have lost five straight to San Francisco dating back to the start of the 2022 season. The 49ers have outscored them by a combined 148 to 72 in that span.