Emanuel Wilson 'Ran His Tail Off' In Seahawks' Week 4 Win Over Chargers

With Jadarian Price on injured reserve, Emanuel Wilson stepped up with a big performance in Sunday’s win over the Chargers.

Oct 04, 2026 at 07:15 PM

Seahawks.com Senior Reporter

A week ago, the Seahawks managed just 44 rushing yards in their Week 3 loss at Washington, then on Friday came bad news about rookie running back Jadarian Price, who was ruled out for Sunday's game with a chest injury before being placed on injured reserve a day later.

But if there were concerns about the run game and Seattle's running back depth heading into Sunday's game against the Chargers, Emanuel Wilson helped put minds at ease with a big time performance in the Seahawks' 30-23 win at Lumen Field.

Wilson, a free-agent signing who spent his first three seasons in Green Bay, primarily in a backup role, showed on Sunday that he is more than capable of carrying a big workload. Wilson rushed for 81 yards on 21 carries, including an 8-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, and he also added 39 yards on three catches, one of which was a 23-yard touchdown on a screen pass.

"Huge," receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba said when asked about Wilson's play. "He ran his tail off. We're going to need him throughout the course of the season, so happy to see him get going."

When asked when he last had rushing and receiving touchdowns in one game, Wilson smiled and said, "High school. Last time I did that was in high school, but today we got the job done and I'm proud of it."

Consistent with his style as a downhill, physical back, many of Wilson's yards were hard-fought gains after initial contact, with both him and his offensive line fighting for extra yards.

"I thought he ran hard," said right tackle Abraham Lucas. "He put his head down and he ran like a badass. I'm happy for him."

Added left tackle Charles Cross, "He did a great job this week coming in, preparing and being able to take advantage of the opportunity when the time came. He did a great job of that."

Wilson's big game led the way for a rushing attack that put up a solid stat line of 132 yards and two touchdowns on 33 rushes, good for a 4.2 yards-per-carry average. Those aren't necessarily great numbers, but for a team down two of its best backs -- Price and Zach Charbonnet, who returned to practice this week but is still on the physically unable to perform list -- it was a winning effort.

Receiver Rashid Shaheed lined up in the backfield on a few occasions and got two carries, one of which went for a 28-yard touchdown, while George Holani contributed 18 yards on seven carries.

"It's great," Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said. "We have to be able to run the ball, so the guys did a great job. Thought Emanuel ran the ball well. Thought George ran the ball well. It was great to get Shid going, which is really cool, and Justin Outten deserves a lot of credit, John Benton. It's a team effort. The guys did a great job."

And Wilson fought for every yard he could after contact; he was also the beneficiary of some good blocking on several touches, including his touchdown reception.

"It was like Moses parting the Red Sea," Wilson said. "It was wonderful, man. Everybody got on their blocks, and I just saw the hole. There was a defender right there, I tried to jump over him, he clipped me in the air."

That last defender Wilson tried to jump over was being blocked well downfield by receiver Cooper Kupp, while Shaheed's long touchdown featured a physical block by Smith-Njigba to clear out the final defender that stood between Shaheed and the end zone.

"The run game is a group effort from us to the tight ends to the receivers," Cross said. "Everyone's just trying to do their part trying to help the team win. JSN did a great job, the rest of the team did a great job helping the run game today."

Wilson, asked about Kupp's block on the screen touchdown, said, "Man, it's wonderful, just knowing that the receivers are out there blocking. Coop, he's been in the league for 10 or 11 years now, and he knows how to block. There are a lot of receivers that don't like to block."