Seahawks keeping Tyler Lockett back in Bay Area with ‘pretty severe situation right now’
Tyler Lockett was the only Seahawk not celebrating the team’s biggest win yet this season on its flight back home.
He remained in the Bay Area.
The Seahawks’ No. 1 wide receiver left Monday night’s crucial, 27-24 overtime victory over the previously undefeated San Francisco 49ers after the final play of regulation.
A league source confirmed to The News Tribune just after midnight into Tuesday morning that Lockett was spending the night in the Bay Area for treatment and observation rather than risk him flying home with the team.
“Tyler Lockett got a really bad lower-leg bruise, contusion, that caused some issue that we are working on,” coach Pete Carroll said about 30 minutes after Monday night’s marathon game ended.
“He’s outta here right now to get looked at. It will be OK, but it’s a pretty severe situation right now, for game night.”
Asked what made him term Lockett’s injury “bad,” Carroll said, “Well, I think there was a lot of swelling. The contusion caused a lot of swelling right away. They’ve got stuff; there are concerns about that. So they’ve got to make sure that..there’s a compartment element that they’ve got to make sure. They’ve just got to take care of him.
“And we are ahead of it. So we should be in shape. But sorry to see him (out).
“Not having ‘No E’ (nicknamed that years ago by teammates to differentiate him from now-retired Seahawks receiver Ricardo Lockette) out there, we looked different. And we need him back.”
Lockett did not play after returning a kickoff 3 yards to the Seahawks’ 8-yard line following San Francisco’s tying field goal with 1 second left in regulation. That was the final play of regulation.
In overtime, Wilson didn’t have Lockett, a clutch receiver he’s come to trust to make ridiculous, over-the-shoulder catches even while covered this season. Instead it was deep reserve Malik Turner coming up with two big catches on the first drive of overtime.
“That was tough not having my guy Tyler out there,” Wilson said. “Obviously, Tyler has arguably been one of the best receivers in the NFL, if not THE best. Anytime he’s on the field it’s is a good thing.
“But I think Malik did a good job stepping up. He made some huge plays and some huge catches. ...
“The great thing is, we have such a plethora of receivers that can do great things and have confidence. There was no worry or fear.”
The Seahawks (8-2) have a bye this week through Sunday. The players are off until Monday. They next play at Philadelphia on Nov. 24.
So Lockett has 12 days to heal.
His three catches for 26 yards Monday were his lowest totals since week one against Cincinnati. He has 62 catches for 767 yards through 10 games. He’s on pace to set Seahawks records for both categories for an entire season.
Tight end Luke Willson injured his hamstring in the first half and did not return.
That left Jacob Hollister, practice-squad promotion from last month, as Seattle’s only tight end. And he responded bigly: a team-high eight receptions for 62 yards and a touchdown.
This story was originally published November 12, 2019 at 12:01 AM.
