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Brady HendersonESPN
RENTON, Wash. — Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett had successful surgery to repair a broken bone in his hand and has a chance to return after missing only one game, according to coach Pete Carroll.
“He had his surgery and the doc said it was perfect,” Carroll said Tuesday. “He had a lot of work done, but it’s very, very secure. So they feel very good about him coming back quickly.”
Lockett, Seattle’s leading receiver with 964 yards and eight touchdowns, suffered a spiral crack in the metacarpal bone that connects to his index finger. The injury occurred late in the Seahawks’ loss to the San Francisco 49ers last Thursday night. He had surgery Monday.
When asked if Lockett could return next week, Carroll said, “That’s the first thing that came out of them — that there’s a chance — from the docs. So we’ll see what happens. That sounds crazy miraculous, but they secured it in a way that they know that he can already start moving his hand and stuff like that. So we’ll see what happens. We’ll keep our fingers crossed.”
The Seahawks play the Kansas City Chiefs Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium before closing out the regular season with home games against the New York Jets and Los Angeles Rams. At 7-7, the Seahawks are currently one spot behind the 7-6-1 Washington Commanders for the NFC’s second wild-card berth.
Running back Ken Walker III‘s status for the Chiefs game is uncertain. He sat out Week 14 with an ankle injury and returned against the 49ers, playing 48 of 64 offensive snaps, but he was still too sore to practice on Tuesday after four days off.
“We’ll see,” Carroll said when asked how Walker was doing. “He made it through the week and was a little sore coming out. We’ll see how this week goes. We’ve got to give him every day to get back.”
Running back DeeJay Dallas is “clamoring” to play Saturday and believes he has a chance to return from his high ankle sprain, but Carroll sounded skeptical. The Seahawks brought back Wayne Gallman to their practice squad to add backfield depth.
Defensive tackle Al Woods’ status is also uncertain after he missed the 49ers game with an Achilles injury. Carroll said he was also too sore to practice on Tuesday. Linebacker Jordyn Brooks, who left the 49ers game with a sore neck, practiced Tuesday and is “really determined” to play Saturday, per Carroll. Safety Ryan Neal (knee) did not practice Tuesday.
Lockett, 30, has missed only two games in eight NFL seasons, one because of a broken leg late in 2016 and the other due to COVID-19 last year. Now that he’s set to miss at least this week, the Seahawks reinforced their depth at wide receiver by promoting former first-round pick Laquon Treadwell from their practice squad to their 53-man roster. Marquise Goodwin will go from the No. 3 receiver to the No. 2 role behind DK Metcalf. Seattle also has Penny Hart and rookie Dareke Young, who have played sparingly on offense this season.
Dee Eskridge is on Injured Reserve with a hand injury and is not yet ready to resume practicing, although Carroll didn’t rule out the possibility that he could do so later this week.
The Seahawks put defensive tackle Bryan Mone on Injured Reserve, an expected move after he suffered a serious ACL injury against the 49ers.