John Ursua fight to remain on the roster has ended, painfully.
The third-year wide receiver from Hawaii 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, a Hawaii and Kealakehe High alum, 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.