‘Perfect’ hand surgery for Tyler Lockett. Could he return missing only 1 Seahawks game?
Tyler Lockett back playing after surgery and missing only one game?
Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll is raising that as a possibility.
Doctors who performed Lockett’s surgery Monday on his broken left hand told the team it’s possible the Seahawks’ top wide receiver could be back when Seattle plays what’s shaping up to be a win-or-they-are-out-of-playoffs game Jan. 1 against the New York Jets.
“The docs said it was perfect,” Carroll said of the procedure to repair the spiral fracture in the first metacarpal Lockett got late in the Seahawks’ loss to the San Francisco 49ers Thursday.
“He had a lot of work done, but it’s very, very secure. So they feel very good about him coming back quickly.”
How quickly?
Lockett will miss Seattle’s game on Saturday at AFC West-champion Kansas City. The Seahawks (7-7) appear to need at least two wins in their final three games to make the NFC’s postseason as the seventh and final seed. They play the Jets at home New Year’s Day then the Los Angeles Rams (4-10) Jan. 7 or 8.
Could Lockett be back for those two games?
“There’s a chance, yeah,” Carroll said. “That’s the first thing that came out of it, that there’s a chance (Lockett could miss only one game), from the docs. So we’ll see what happens.
“I mean, that sounds crazy, miraculous, but they secured it in a way that they know he can already move his hand. ...
“So we’ll see what happens. We’ll keep our fingers crossed.”
Saturday will be only the second game of Lockett’s eight-year career, all with Seattle, that he’s missed a game because of injury. He broke his leg in the next-to-last game of the 2016 season. He missed one game in December 2021 after he tested positive for COVID-19.
Asked if it’s going to be strange to not have Lockett on the field with him Saturday in Kansas City, near where Lockett played collegiately at Kansas State, Seattle receiver DK Metcalf grinned and said, “Uhhh, yeah.
“It’s always going to be strange when Tyler’s not there, somebody who’s been there so long not playing.
“But just another challenge along the way that we’ve got to overcome.”
The Seahawks on Tuesday signed wide receiver Laquon Treadwell from their practice squad to the 53-man active roster. They put defensive tackle Bryan Mone on injured reserve to make roster room for Treadwell. Mone tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee in the 49ers game last week.
Treadwell is a former first-round draft choice by Minnesota. He becomes the third wide receiver behind Metcalf and Marquise Goodwin until Lockett returns.
Seattle signed Treadwell last month. He made his Seahawks debut Nov. 27 against Las Vegas.
Treadwell’s promotion suggests Dee Eskridge will remain out injured with his own broken hand. This is the first week the team’s often-injured top choice in the 2021 draft is eligible to come off the injured-reserve list.
Treadwell calls this opportunity with Seattle a do-over chance in the NFL.
“Absolutely,” he said before practice Tuesday.
“I feel very comfortable with who I am being here.”
This story was originally published December 20, 2022 at 3:03 PM.
