Tyler Lockett Among 6 Seahawks Listed Questionable to Play vs. Jets
After returning to practice earlier this week, the Seahawks listed receiver Tyler Lockett and five other players as questionable to suit up against the Jets in a must-win Week 17 clash at Lumen Field.
Making a rapid recovery following surgery to repair a broken bone in his left hand one week earlier, Lockett was a full participant in Friday's final practice of the week, a positive sign for his odds at playing on Sunday. But speaking with reporters after practice, coach Pete Carroll coyly cautioned that Seattle wanted to see how his hand responded over the next day or so before deciding whether or not he would be active.
“I want to see how he feels after the work today because he worked again today, practiced, took a full-day practice, and did all of that, so we just have to check with him and make sure that he’s okay," Carroll said.
When Lockett first suffered the injury in a Week 15 loss to the 49ers, Carroll insinuated that team doctors were genuinely optimistic about his chance of recovering in time to miss only one game. While that seemed like a leap given the significance of the injury at the time, he caught passes pain free during walkthroughs on Wednesday before ramping up to limited participation on Thursday and taking part in full on Friday.
Assuming Lockett doesn't have any setbacks after Friday's session, his return will be especially big for the Seahawks due to the likelihood fellow receiver Marquise Goodwin won't be available on Sunday. The speedy veteran suffered a sprained AC joint in his shoulder last weekend while also re-aggravating a wrist injury that has bothered him for several weeks on the same play and after originally being listed as questionable, the team downgraded him to doubtful shortly after practice concluded.
Without Goodwin, veteran Laquon Treadwell, Penny Hart, and rookie Dareke Young would once again see increased playing time on offense to fill the void after stepping up in Lockett's absence a week ago.
Away from Lockett, Carroll provided positive injury news on defensive tackle Al Woods and running back Ken Walker III, who each appear to be trending towards playing against New York. Woods has missed the past two games with an Achilles injury and returned to practice this week, while Seattle has taken a proactive approach resting Walker due to a lingering ankle injury to ensure he's ready by game day.
“He’s going to have some fresh legs," Carroll said of Walker, indicating he expects the rookie will play. "We wanted to make sure that we took care of some guys, and we did today. We want to be fast on Sunday, so we looked after a couple of guys today.”
Though Walker and Woods should be in uniform on Sunday, not all of the news on the injury report from Carroll was positive. Safety Ryan Neal, who missed last week's loss in Kansas City with a sore knee, didn't practice at all this week and is being viewed as a game time decision. Rookie right tackle Abraham Lucas also missed the entire week of practice with an irritated patellar tendon in his knee, casting doubt about his availability to start against a stout Jets defensive line.
In the event Neal and Lucas can't play, the Seahawks will likely turn to either Teez Tabor or Johnathan Abram at safety for a second straight week and second-year tackle Stone Forsythe will be in line for his first career NFL start. All three players saw extensive snaps at Arrowhead Stadium with mixed results and should be better prepared after taking all of the snaps with starters this week at practice.
In additional injury news, running back DeeJay Dallas and tight end Noah Fant weren't included on the final injury report with any designations, while running back Travis Homer has a high ankle sprain and is questionable to play on Sunday. If he's deactivated, Carroll indicated Godwin Igwebuike could receive his first offensive snaps after starring as a kick returner for Seattle in the previous three games.
"He’s worked with us long enough. He’s showed us enough as a competitor, and we have no problem playing him.”
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