RENTON — Through the first four weeks of the season, the Seattle Seahawks have one of the league’s best defenses despite needing to play various defensive back combinations because of injuries in the secondary. As players in that position group continue to come off the injury report, Seattle might be faced with a logjam that could push out one of its Pro Bowl cornerbacks.

On Sunday morning, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported teams are “monitoring” cornerback Riq Woolen as a potential trade target. The trade deadline is Nov. 4.

On Monday, coach Mike Macdonald was asked about the NFL Network report and his confidence in Woolen.

“If teams are interested in our players, that means we’ve got good players,” Macdonald said. “So, I love having great players.”

Woolen, a fifth-round draft pick in 2022, is in the final year of his four-year rookie contract. Cornerback Josh Jobe (27 years old), safety Coby Bryant (26) and corner Derion Kendrick (25) are also on expiring contracts. It would make sense for cornerback-needy teams to wonder whether Seattle considers the 26-year-old Woolen expendable, especially if he’s not in the team’s long-term plans.

With Devon Witherspoon back and Nick Emmanwori (ankle) potentially on track to make his return this week — the rookie was a participant in Monday’s practice, Macdonald said — Seattle has the flexibility to shake up its secondary and throw out a Woolen-less lineup ahead of a Week 5 home game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Woolen made the Pro Bowl and finished third in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting in 2022 but has been temporarily benched in each of the last two seasons, for separate reasons (the latter due to a rule violation, according to Macdonald). Woolen came into this season looking to prove he’s grown as a player and that he’s capable of being “locked in throughout” games, which he and his head coach have acknowledged hasn’t always been the case.

But Woolen is off to an uneven start. As the nearest defender in coverage, he has allowed nine catches on 16 targets for 143 yards and one touchdown, which was the game-winner against San Francisco in Week 1 (all coverage stats provided by Next Gen Stats). He has surrendered a passer rating of 107, which, if maintained throughout the season, would be by far the highest of his career; before this year, he never gave up a passer rating higher than 79.2. Woolen has one pass breakup, a touchdown-saving swat in the fourth quarter against the 49ers.

Against Arizona in Week 4, Woolen allowed just one catch for 16 yards on four targets. His first target came in the first quarter when he practically ran the in-breaking route for receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., who gave up on the route. Quarterback Kyler Murray sent the ball Harrison’s way, and it was picked off by Bryant. That play was an example of the sticky coverage Seattle expects from Woolen.

However, the Seahawks also expect Woolen to cover go routes without drawing penalties. He didn’t do that Thursday. Woolen grabbed receiver Michael Wilson on a deep route in the third quarter, giving Arizona a 14-yard penalty and a first down. In the fourth quarter, Woolen was flagged for defensive pass interference on receiver Xavier Weaver at the 9-yard line. The Cardinals scored two plays later. Woolen leads Seattle with four accepted penalties (he’s also been flagged for face mask and holding). Woolen is not playing poorly, but his miscues have been costly.

“Riq is playing hard,” Macdonald said Friday morning. “I think he’s pressing a little bit with the situation going on. But it does seem like some of those penalties are in the same mode where it’s playing the deep ball when he is in phase. A couple of them, he was put in a tough spot where they looked like it was underthrown a little bit, and that’s a hard situation for the corner.

“But we can keep putting him in more situations in practice, give him some more exposure to those plays so he has some more confidence when he is put in those situations. Those are plays that he’s made throughout his career. We expect him to make them.”

Witherspoon returned to the lineup Thursday after missing Weeks 2 and 3 with a knee injury. He missed a tackle on running back Trey Benson in the first quarter but otherwise brought the same toughness and physicality he’s known for. Witherspoon even split a sack with Jobe in the third quarter.

In coverage, Witherspoon was on the wrong end of Arizona’s two fourth-quarter touchdowns. With 5:50 remaining, he was beaten by Harrison on a corner route for a 16-yard score. Witherspoon was in position, but Harrison attacked the ball at its highest point, over the outstretched left arm of the defender.

Arizona tied the game with 33 seconds left when quarterback Murray checked the ball down to running back Emari Demercado. Playing zone coverage from his nickel spot, Witherspoon initially stepped to his left to track a crossing route, then tried to sprint back to his right and catch up to Demercado, but the ball carrier slipped through the tackle attempt.

“I’ve got to be better,” Witherspoon said of his performance.

Macdonald said he’s not worried about his two-time Pro Bowl cornerback, who hadn’t had a full-speed practice since the week of the season opener.

“He played a good game,” Macdonald said. “There’s a couple plays he gave up, a couple catches that Harrison had on him, but Spoon’s going to be fine. The guy competes; he’s on his stuff. He’s a spark plug out there for us.”

Emmanwori suffered a high-ankle sprain early in Week 1 and hasn’t played since (Seattle doesn’t have to produce an injury report this week until Wednesday). In his absence, Seattle has used veteran D’Anthony Bell in the “big nickel” role. Bell played six defensive snaps against Arizona, and on five of those plays, Woolen was on the bench, with the two outside cornerbacks being Jobe and Witherspoon. (The only time Bell and Woolen shared the field was the final play of the first half, when Seattle deployed seven defensive backs in anticipation of a Hail Mary pass).

It’s safe to assume that Emmanwori will replace Bell in the rotation when healthy. If Macdonald continues to use Jobe and Witherspoon as the two outside cornerbacks in that big nickel package, it would mark the end of Woolen’s run as an every-down player. He’d basically become CB3, and Jobe would be the new CB2 behind Witherspoon.

Woolen played 60 defensive snaps against Arizona, so it’s not as if the demotion would take him off the field entirely. Three-receiver sets are the norm for nearly every team on Seattle’s schedule, and Macdonald likes to match those 11 personnel groupings with his three best cover corners. For now, Woolen is one of those three.

Unless Kendrick has something to say about it.

Kendrick, who was claimed off waivers from the Rams in August, played 95 total defensive snaps in the two games Witherspoon missed. Of Kendrick’s 68 coverage snaps, 56 have come in the slot. He has two interceptions, two more would-be picks that hit him in the hands and five total pass breakups, which leads the team (Bryant and Ernest Jones IV also have two interceptions). Kendrick has allowed just four catches for 22 yards on eight targets as the nearest defender.

Like Jobe, Seattle likes Kendrick’s story because it reinforces part of the team’s philosophy: If you work hard and produce, you will have an opportunity to play. Kendrick was active but didn’t play any defensive snaps against Arizona because of Witherspoon’s return. Seattle figured the three best cover corners for that game were Jobe, Witherspoon and Woolen.

That’s not set in stone, though. Macdonald values competition too much not to give Kendrick a chance when he’s proven he can help the team win games. Kendrick has been trained at nickel since arriving in Seattle, but he spent his first three seasons with the Rams playing outside cornerback, so in theory, it wouldn’t be difficult to get him up to speed at Woolen’s spot if that’s a move the Seahawks wanted to consider.

In the context of having a healthy defensive back room, Macdonald was asked how he envisions the lineup shaking out this week.

“It’ll be interesting,” Macdonald said. “We haven’t game planned anything yet on defense, but this is a byproduct of guys getting a lot of work, staying ready with the (practice squad). Guys being ready to go gives you added flexibility when you go into game planning, which is cool.

“It’s also something you have to be mindful of so you don’t get too cute and you’re still able to throw fastballs, and guys can execute without having a thousand personnel groups.”