Seahawks WR Tyler Lockett Improving, 'Should Be Fine' After Bye Week
Though he’ll remain in the hospital through Tuesday night, Seahawks receiver Tyler Lockett appears to be making positive progress recovering from a lower leg contusion suffered in Monday’s 27-24 win over the 49ers.
According to coach Pete Carroll, Lockett is currently at Stanford Hospital due to lingering concerns about “compartmental issues.” He's likely referencing compartment syndrome, a condition in which swelling of a muscle can lead to a cut off of blood flow and potential nerve and muscle cell damage.
The fifth-year receiver had severe swelling resulting from the contusion and the Seahawks plan to exercise plenty of caution to ensure the swelling goes down before allowing him to fly back to Seattle.
“He’s better than he was yesterday,” Carroll told reporters. “Our people think he’s going to be fine to play. He’ll need the rest of this week to make sure everything goes away. He should be fine to play next week.”
Lockett played most of Monday's contest, including fielding the final kickoff of regulation. But his pain became too much to play through in overtime, leaving the Seahawks without their top receiving weapon during the closing 10 minutes of game action. He was immediately rushed to the hospital after the game.
After re-watching the game, Carroll still doesn’t know what specific play Lockett suffered the injury on, but he hopes to be able to figure it out at some point.
“I don’t know that. I didn’t see that. I went through the film. I did not see the play that he got hurt on. I just missed it. He was there available trying to play late in the game and then just couldn’t go at the very end.”
If the Seahawks had to play this upcoming weekend, there’s a good chance Lockett would not have been able to make it back in time. But luckily for quarterback Russell Wilson, his favorite target will benefit from an ideally timed bye week for his leg to heal and the team believes he’ll be ready to play in Week 12 against the Eagles.
