RENTON — Tyler Lockett walked through the Seahawks’ locker room Wednesday afternoon bouncing a tennis ball and handing out fist bumps — all with his right hand.
The left remained bandaged up, still healing 10 days after surgery in Los Angeles to repair a broken bone between his index finger and thumb — what coach Pete Carroll described as a spiral crack in his first metacarpal.
But Carroll said Wednesday that Lockett was able to go through the team’s walk-through and even catch a few passes and expressed optimism that Lockett might be able to play Sunday against the Jets at Lumen Field.
“If you watched walk-through, you wouldn’t even know if anything was going on,’’ Carroll said. “He just went through and did everything in walk-through. We’ll be careful with him in practice and make sure that we find out what his limits are, but he looked great. He was throwing, catching, and all of that stuff, so we will see.’’
Asked if Lockett felt pain when catching passes during walk-through, Carroll said no.
“This is a remarkable story now, and he’s writing it for us,’’ Carroll said. “He’s not even wavering. He’s not even fazed by it.”
Still, Carroll stopped short of saying Lockett will for sure play Sunday against the Jets, even if he called it “a really good first sign’’ that Lockett was able to catch passes during walk-through.
When practice began later in the afternoon, Lockett went through some early stretching and running during the time that media are allowed to watch. But he then headed off the field and was officially listed as not practicing on the team’s injury report.
But Carroll said that was by design.
“We are going to go one day at a time, and we aren’t going to let him work hard today at practice just because it seems crazy that we would go this quickly,’’ Carroll said. “We don’t need to. But the walk-through was excellent.’’
And at least one teammate — middle linebacker Jordyn Brooks — said he thinks Lockett is going to play after he sat out Saturday against Kansas City, just the third regular-season game he has missed since coming to Seattle in 2015.
“I talked to him today,’’ Brooks said. “I think he is going to play. He is a warrior. His hand is swollen. He got stitches. But he’s a warrior. It’s going to be a big deal for us to see him in the locker room and getting ready to play. It brings me a lot of joy knowing that he is going to be on the other side of the ball playing and trying to help us win. So, can’t wait to see him play.’’
And fellow receiver DK Metcalf also expressed optimism. Asked whether he was surprised to see Lockett back in walk-through Wednesday so soon after injuring his hand, Metcalf said: “No, I was actually surprised that he didn’t want to play in Kansas City because he had to get surgery. Tyler is tough, even after the play he hurt his finger, he was still out there running routes and trying to get the ball. That doesn’t surprise me at all.”
Seahawks bring back Hollister to fill TE depth
After placing tight end Will Dissly on injured reserve Tuesday with a knee injury, the Seahawks brought back a familiar face to help replace him — Jacob Hollister.
Hollister, recently released by the Raiders after playing in five games this year with Las Vegas, signed to Seattle’s practice squad and gives the Seahawks four tight ends — Noah Fant and Colby Parkinson on the 53 and Hollister and Tyler Mabry on the practice squad.
The move came after Carroll talked to the media though he had hinted during his news conference that the Seahawks would do something to help replace Dissly.
Hollister played in 27 games for the Seahawks in the 2019-20 seasons with eight starts, catching 66 passes for 558 yards and six touchdowns — two in a wild 40-34 win against Tampa Bay in 2019 when he caught the game-winner in overtime.
As for Dissly, going on IR means he is out for the regular season. And while he could by rule return if Seattle made it to a third playoff game, Carroll indicated that his injury is long-term and that it remains unclear if he will have surgery.
“He has a really unusual injury that we have not seen before,’’ Carroll said of the five-year vet out of UW. “Not that it makes it so bad, it’s not that, but it’s just a rare injury at the top of his fibula and where it connects. We haven’t had that situation, but it’s serious enough that it’s going to be a bit. That’s why we had to go with the way we went. … They wanted to give it a chance to heal first and then see what happens [before deciding on surgery]. We won’t know that for a few weeks.”
Lucas ‘wants to play’ and Woods returns
Other key personnel updates from Carroll on Wednesday include:
— Right tackle Abraham Lucas sat out practice with a knee injury that caused him to miss most of the second half Saturday against the Chiefs. But Carroll indicated Lucas will be able to play against the Jets. “We are going to rest him early this week to make sure that we guarantee his return,’’ Carroll said. “… He wants to play, and he wants to go. What’s bothering him is something that he had before, so he knows what it is, and he’s not worried about it.”
— Defensive tackle Al Woods, who has missed the past two games with an Achilles injury, was a full participant in practice Wednesday. Carroll said: “He’s really excited to be back. He was missed enormously and was good to see him out there clunking around with our guys and getting back into the rhythm of it.”
— Safety Ryan Neal sat out practice with a knee injury that sidelined him Saturday, and Carroll indicated he didn’t know if he will return for the Jets game, saying, “He’s working at it.’’
— Running back Kenneth Walker III did not practice Wednesday, as he continues to deal with a sore ankle. But Carroll said that was by design. Running back DeeJay Dallas was limited in practice, but Carroll said he seemed to recover quickly from the Chiefs game after having missed the previous two contests with an ankle injury.
— Also listed as not practicing Wednesday were RB Travis Homer (ankle), WR Marquise Goodwin (shoulder/wrist), Fant (knee) and linebacker Nick Bellore (illness). LB Bruce Irvin (knee/heal) was also limited. Carroll said that Goodwin was getting rest by design and that “he’s planning on playing.’’
— The Seahawks on Tuesday claimed defensive tackle Isaiah Mack off waivers from Baltimore, but Carroll said the team hadn’t seen him yet and didn’t know if he’d be able to play Sunday. “Because of the travel all over the country, he hasn’t made it in yet,’’ Carroll said before practice Wednesday. “So, he’s coming in late tonight. It’s going to be hard. He’s going to have a few opportunities. We’ll just wait and see.’’