Uchenna Nwosu criticizes “dirty” block that injured him in August

Seahawks linebacker Uchenna Nwosu has had a tough 2024, with two separate injuries limiting him to just one game so far this year.

He first suffered an MCL injury in August during Seattle’s preseason game with Cleveland. Then he sustained a quad injury when he returned to action in the Oct. 6 loss to the Giants.

But while Nwosu didn’t criticize the play first play that injured him a couple of months ago, the linebacker had a different take on Thursday upon being activated from injured reserve.

Browns guard Wyatt Teller hit Nwosu’s knee on a cut block, which sprained Nwosu’s MCL. The play was flagged for an illegal chop block. Just a play before, Nwosu had been penalized for roughing the passer.

“I thought it was dirty, straight up,” Nwosu said of Teller’s block, via Brady Henderson of ESPN. “I didn’t like it. It’s preseason. We’re going to be in there like two drives, but it’s football. I get it, it’s football at the end of the day, but it was definitely a dirty play.

“I know you’re allowed to cut. … But the way you cut, you can’t do it going back towards your own end zone, and that’s what he did to me, so that’s what made it dirty.”

Nwosu, 27, has struggled with injuries over the last to seasons, appearing in just seven games over the period after recording 9.5 sacks, 12 tackles for loss, and 26 quarterback hits for Seattle in 2022. He missed the last 11 games of 2023 with a torn pectoral.

“It’s been tough,” Nwosu said. “I feel like it’s really things that have kind of been out of my control, especially with the knee injury I had. And then one thing leads to another, so who knows. So just kind of just refiguring myself out, just trusting my process and knowing that I know my career is going to be great and I’ll still be the same player I am, and just continue to trust myself.”