Seahawks receiver John Ursua posts online he’s out for the season following torn ACL
John Ursua fight to remain on the roster has ended, painfully.
The third-year wide receiver the Seahawks traded back into the 2019 draft to get announced on his social-media account Sunday he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee and is out for the 2021 season.
Ursua injured his knee running a route during Seattle’s preseason game against Denver Saturday night at Lumen Field. He caught three passes in the game before he got hurt, apparently without contract from a Broncos defender.
“So for all of those asking, last night I tore my ACL, so I’ll be out for the season,” Ursua, 27, said on camera, on his Instagram Live account.
“But it’s all right. I’ll be back. Had fun playing out there, fun catching some balls, making some plays. Good vibes. Appreciated it.”
Ursua knows the long, grinding rehabilitation road ahead of him over the next year. He had reconstructive surgery on his other knee four years ago when he was playing for the University of Hawaii in his native state.
“Tore my right ACL back in 2017. Now I tore my left side,” he said on his online video Sunday.
“Just got to get it right. Get back. Build my strength back up, and hopefully get back out there, ballin’.”
Ursua is eligible to become an exclusive-rights free agent for the Seahawks following the 2021 season, which it appears he will now spend on injured reserve when the team sets its first 53-man roster for the regular season on Aug. 31. Seattle can keep Ursua by making him a qualifying offer next offseason that would bind him to the team again for 2022. If the Seahawks decide not to tender him an offer he would become a free agent next spring.
Coach Pete Carroll said Saturday night following Seattle’s 30-3 home preseason loss to Denver Ursua was likely to miss much if not all of this season. He termed Ursua’s injury as serious.
Same with Ben Burr-Kirven. The former University of Washington middle linebacker and backup to Seattle All-Pro Bobby Wagner was, like Ursua, taken from the game and field Saturday night on the back of a motorized cart. Burr-Kirven also sustained what Carroll called a “serious knee injury.”
The coach said Burr-Kirven will also be out a long time.
Ursua was battling to remain on the roster as one of its last wide receivers. Tyler Lockett, DK Metcalf and Freddie Swain are the top three of those. Top rookie draft choice Dee Eskridge practiced for the first time in training camp last week. The second-round pick worked out on Lumen Field before Saturday night’s game. He seems likely to play for Seattle for the first time this Saturday when the Seahawks host the Los Angeles Chargers in the third and final preseason game.
Cody Thompson and former UW receiver Aaron Fuller have been impressive in a fight for the fourth and fifth roster spots at wide receiver. Former Sumner High School star Connor Wedington is in that competition, too. The Seahawks may be hoping to get the undrafted rookie from Stanford through NFL waivers and onto their practice squad next week.
Before the roster must get to 53 players by Aug. 31, the Seahawks and every team must get from 85 to a maximum of 80 players by Tuesday.
Seattle is carrying one additional player by roster exemption: linebacker Aaron Donkor from Germany. He’s been allocated to the Seahawks as part of the NFL’s international player development program.
