Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald delivered grim injury news this week, confirming that the team’s veteran nose tackle Johnathan Hankins will not play this season. The former second-round pick has spent the entire year on the reserve/Non-Football Injury list with a lingering back issue and will remain there for the rest of the campaign.
Macdonald added little in the way of specifics, declining to answer when asked directly if the big defensive tackle has undergone back surgery. The update came in his regular press conference and was echoed by ESPN’s Brady Henderson, who has tracked the situation since training camp.
The season-ending decision marks a sharp turn from the summer, when Hankins opened camp on the NFI list with a back problem but Macdonald publicly expressed optimism that the injury would not be a long-term concern. At the time, the coach said the team expected the veteran to be fine while they took a cautious approach.
Instead, the back issue never cleared enough for him to return to practice, and what began as a “slow play” has quietly become a lost season.
What Jonathan Hankins’ Season-Ending News Means for the Seahawks’ Defensive Front
GettyJohnathan Hankins could have been a big factor on the Seattle Seahawks defensive line. Instead, Seattle will continue to make plays without him.
On paper, Seattle isn’t losing a flashy stat producer. In reality, the Seahawks just lost the 325-pound anchor who was supposed to live on early downs and short-yardage snaps in Macdonald’s defense.
Hankins re-signed with Seattle on a one-year deal in the spring after a strong 2024 season, when he played all 17 games (eight starts) and posted 30 tackles, five tackles for loss, a sack and an interception while holding down the middle of the line. He was expected to reprise that role as the primary nose tackle.
With him stuck on NFI all season, Macdonald has already been forced into Plan B. Interior snaps have tilted more heavily toward Leonard Williams, Jarran Reed and Byron Murphy II, with a mix of younger bodies filling in around them. Earlier in the year, Sports Illustrated noted that Quinton Bohanna, Brandon Pili, Bubba Thomas and Justin Rogers were among the depth options getting extra looks while the veteran remained sidelined.
Now that Macdonald has ruled out a return, that patchwork approach becomes permanent for the rest of the season. It likely means more “light” fronts and multiple looks instead of simply plugging a true space-eater into the middle on obvious run downs.
The news also raises a bigger-picture question for Seattle’s roster build. With the veteran on a one-year deal and in his 13th NFL season, a year lost to a back injury on the NFI list makes it harder to pencil him into future plans, even if both sides want a reunion.
Background, Stats & Context on the Former Second-Round Pick
Even without his name in the headline, Seahawks fans will know exactly who this news is about. The veteran nose tackle was a 2013 second-round pick who has carved out a long career with the New York Giants, Indianapolis Colts, Las Vegas Raiders, Dallas Cowboys and now Seattle.
Since arriving in Seattle, he’s been the definition of a classic run-stuffer: eating double teams, muddying rushing lanes and occasionally popping with a splash play like last season’s interception of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy.
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