Seahawks at 49ers: Tyler Lockett questionable, DK Metcalf full go, Dee Eskridge doubtful
Tyler Lockett has missed just one regular-season game in his six-year career.
There’s a question whether he will miss his second career game Sunday.
The Seahawks (1-2) listed their record-setting wide receiver as questionable to play their NFC West opener at the San Francisco 49ers (2-1). He has a hip injury five days after a scary-looking scene of his leg twisting under him following a catch in Seattle’s loss at Minnesota.
“He practiced today,” coach Pete Carroll said following the team’s work on the field Friday afternoon. “We rested him during the week. He did a bunch of treatment, and he feels good.”
Carroll said Lockett’s hip has “been bothering him a little bit for some time” and it’s not from the Vikings game last weekend.
Last season’s Seattle record-setter with 100 receptions in 2020 was down in Minnesota for multiple minutes and had much of the team kneeling around him on the field concerned.
Eventually Lockett walked to the sideline with a team doctor and trainer at his sides. A few minutes later, he rubbed his left knee, grabbed his helmet and returned to the game. He missed only four plays Sunday.
“I’m OK,” Lockett said Sunday while appearing to walk normally from the locker room to the team bus in Minneapolis after the game. “He (the team doctor) said I was OK.”
Carroll had said after the game Lockett appeared to be fine. So it seemed he and the team avoided what seemed like a certain injury.
Fellow wide receiver DK Metcalf isn’t on the injury list and is full go to play Sunday. He had missed parts of practice Thursday and again Friday with a newly listed foot injury.
“He has a sore foot, so we rested him,” Carroll said. “He was out there today.
“I think he’s felt it for some time but hasn’t reported it. Just something we want to make sure and take care of. When I say he hasn’t reported it, I mean there was no reason to for him.”
Rookie wide receiver Dee Eskridge is doubtful. He hasn’t progressed enough beyond limited practice Thursday. That was his first work with the team since he got a concussion in Seattle’s season-opening win at Indianapolis Sept. 12.
“I’m not sure he’s going to make it,” Carroll said. “We have to wait and see what happens (Saturday). We are still talking about it. He passed the protocol on Wednesday. He sat out Wednesday to do that, had a really good day (Thursday) at practice, but we don’t know if it is right to bring him back yet.”
Starting offensive tackle Brandon Shell is out, for the second consecutive game. He sprained his ankle late in the team’s overtime loss to Tennessee Sept. 19.
Jamarco Jones started last week for Shell. Jones played 27 plays and had an upset stomach. Undrafted rookie Jake Curhan played 26 in his NFL debut replacing Jones.
Curhan impressed Wilson in the tackle’s debut, suggesting Curhan, a former University of California standout from Carroll’s alma mater of Larkspur High School in Redwood, California, could be an option in his native Bay Area Sunday if Shell can’t play.
The Seahawks this week designated tackle Cedric Ogbuehi, a former first-round pick by Cincinnati, to return from injured reserve. He’s practiced this week and is another, veteran option to play for Shell Sunday.
Carroll had promised Ogbuehi the opportunity to compete with Shell at right tackle this season, after the coach had Ogbuehi mainly backing up veteran Duane Brown at left tackle. But Ogbuehi was out injured most of the preseason. Sunday may be his chance to finally play right tackle.
Defensive ends Benson Mayowa (neck) and Alton Robinson (knee) are questionable for the 49ers game, but Carroll says they have good chances of playing. They have been prominent in Seattle’s new five-man defensive line the first three games of this season. Robinson got the most extensive work of his two-year career last weekend at Minnesota.
“Alton, we have to wait and see. We have to run him on gameday to make sure he’s OK. He has a real good chance,” Carroll said.
“Benson is kind of in the same boat. He’s close to make it back, but he’s barely getting back if he does.”
This story was originally published October 1, 2021 at 1:52 PM.
