Seahawks’ Lockett returns from knee injury to make big catch; Baldwin, Rawls banged up
Sep 18, 2016, 8:27 PM | Updated: 9:49 pm
Tyler Lockett returned from a knee injury to haul in a 53-yard pass on Seattle's final drive. (AP)
(AP)
LOS ANGELES – Tyler Lockett completed one comeback in Sunday’s game.
He very nearly helped the Seahawks pull off another one.
Lockett suffered a knee injury at the end of the first half, which kept the wide receiver from returning to the field until the 2 minutes of Seattle’s 9-3 loss to the Rams.
Seahawks lose to Rams | Stats | Postgame interviews | Notes and quotes
“He was supposed to be hurt,” coach Pete Carroll said. “And he came back.”
Not without showing the Seahawks’ trainers that he was able to run first.
“You’ve got to kill me in order for me not to go back out there,” Lockett said.
That sounds kind of drastic, but you’ve got to cut Lockett some slack given the dramatic end of Sunday’s game. No sooner had Lockett returned than he fair caught a punt and on the first play from scrimmage outran Rams cornerback Troy Hill to haul in a perfectly lofted deep pass from Russell Wilson.
Was he thinking he had just put the Seahawks in position to pull off a second straight last-minute win?
“I was thinking I should have kept my knees up so I could have broken the tackle,” Lockett said.
Instead, the Seahawks had the ball first-and-10 at the Rams’ 35. It was Lockett’s fourth catch of the game, and he finished with 99 yards receiving, which was just 5 yards from matching his career high. That last catch, however, was especially remarkable because of how Lockett had come back from an injury that the coaches thought had knocked him out of the game.
“I’m not going to stop fighting,” Lockett said. “I gotta’ be in a coffin in order for me not to come back because I can play with anything that I have, regardless of what it is. That’s just how it is for me.”
It was one of several injuries that Seattle’s offense will be dealing with this week. Wide receiver Doug Baldwin appeared to be injured when he was struck from behind by running back Christine Michael in the first half, and while Baldwin finished the game, he will undergo further tests this week.
Running back Thomas Rawls suffered a lower-leg bruise. X-rays did not detect a fracture. Carroll indicated that Rawls was kicked in his leg.
