RENTON — Standout wide receiver Tyler Lockett will miss this week’s game for the Seattle Seahawks after having surgery to repair a broken bone in his left hand.
That seems to be the only certainty Seattle has about several of its injured starters and their status for what has become an important trip to Kansas City to face the Chiefs on Saturday.
There are questions about several key players, including running back Kenneth Walker III, safety Ryan Neal and defensive lineman Al Woods, and whether any of them will be available for what has become almost a must-win game for the sliding Seahawks. Coach Pete Carroll said none of the three was practicing on Tuesday and decisions about their status would have to wait until later in the week.
Seattle (7-7) has lost four of five and will play only its second regular-season game without Lockett in his eight years with the team. The Seahawks’ second-leading receiver broke a bone in his left hand when he was tackled on an incomplete pass late in a 21-13 loss to San Francisco last Thursday.
Lockett had surgery on Monday and Carroll said there was optimism that Lockett could return before the end of the regular season and perhaps in time for Seattle’s Week 17 game against the New York Jets.
“The docs said it was perfect. He had a lot of work done, but it’s very, very secure. And so they feel very good about him coming back quickly,” Carroll said.
Lockett has 78 catches for 964 yards and eight touchdowns on the season. Marquise Goodwin is likely to start in Lockett’s absence, which will put more attention on DK Metcalf, who leads Seattle with 79 receptions.
“I’m just going to go out there, continue to just play football. Whatever the defense does, I’m just gonna continue to run my route and just try to beat whoever is in front of me,” Metcalf said.
Seattle signed former first-round pick Laquon Treadwell to the active roster from the practice squad on Tuesday. Treadwell had been a practice-squad elevation three times already for Seattle and had 18 offensive snaps in its win over the Rams earlier this month.
Treadwell was a first-round pick by Minnesota in 2016, but he has not caught more than 35 passes in a season.
“From the first day I got here, I felt very comfortable coming in,” Treadwell said. “The coaches have been very transparent, very open, giving me a lot of opportunities to learn the offense.”
Walker didn’t play because of an ankle injury when Seattle lost to Carolina on Dec. 11. He returned last Thursday against the 49ers and had 12 carries for 47 yards, four receptions and played 48 snaps.
“He made it through the week and was a little sore coming out,” Carroll said. “We’ll see how this week goes. We’ve got to give him every day to get back.”
Woods missed Thursday’s loss with an Achilles injury, which, combined with Bryan Mone suffering a torn ACL in the first quarter, left Seattle thin on interior defensive linemen.
Carroll said the 64 plays Neal had against the Niners “hit him hard,” and his practice this week would be limited while he deals with a sore knee.
The one bit of good injury news for Seattle was that starting linebacker Jordyn Brooks practiced after seeing limited fourth-quarter snaps last week because of a sore neck.
