Pete Carroll Show: Jimmy Graham ‘broken-hearted’ after injury, should be ready by start of next season

The knee injury that will sideline Seahawks tight end Jimmy Graham for the remainder of the year shouldn’t affect his availability for next season, coach Pete Carroll said Monday.

Graham will need surgery to repair the patellar tendon in his right knee, which he injured while trying to make a catch in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game against Pittsburgh. Carroll said during his appearance on “Brock and Salk” Monday that he didn’t know when that surgery will take place but that Graham should be full speed by the start of next season.

Carroll said Graham faces a “long recovery” but noted that it’s shorter than the typical recovery period for an ACL tear, which is usually at least nine months. According to Dr. David Chao, an orthopedic surgeon who was previously the head team physician for the San Diego Chargers, the recovery period following surgery to repair a patellar tendon is six to nine months. The long end of that timetable would be late-August, which is a few weeks before the start of the regular season.

Carroll said Graham was “broken-hearted” about his injury when the two spoke Sunday night.

“He wants to play. He loves this game and he wants to play for his teammates and play the game that he loves and he’s not going to get to do that,” Carroll said. “It’s really the first time he’s faced a major injury like this, so it’s devastating at this point. He was pretty broken up last night. We spent a little time with him just to show him the love because he just needs it and deserves it to try to bring him back through it.”

Here are a few more notes from “The Pete Carroll Show” on 710 ESPN Seattle:

• Carroll indicated DeShawn Shead will remain Seattle’s starter at right cornerback – at least for now – after making his first start there on Sunday. “That’s where we’re going this week,” Carroll said. He was pleased with the way Shead played under difficult circumstances. It was his first career start at cornerback and he was tested through the game, both in terms of the players he had to cover and the number of times Pittsburgh threw his way. “He’ll go into this week with a little more confidence and we’ll look forward to how that turns out,” Carroll said.

• Carroll noted how much quarterback Russell Wilson benefited from solid pass protection and how that has been improving for the last month. Seattle has allowed a combined six sacks in its last four games (including two on Sunday) compared to 31 over its first seven. “We’re way better there,” Carroll said. “The result of that is just cleaner play, the quarterback is more comfortable, he can hang in the pocket, he can utilize his receivers better – all of that. That’s shown enough here that I think we’ve made a big jump now and so we’re ready to go and I hope that we’ll be able to go it again next time.”

• Carroll said cornerback Jeremy Lane ended up playing more in his first game of the season than Seattle had intended. He took over at nickelback once Marcus Burley injured his ankle and finished with 34 defensive snaps plus 19 more on special teams. Lane’s day was highlighted by an interception on a trick special teams play, which he returned 54 yards before his legs gave out. But he was also in coverage on a long Pittsburgh touchdown catch and missed a tackle that allowed the Steelers to convert a third-and-long. Carroll said some rust was understandable as it was the equivalent of Lane’s first preseason game considering he hadn’t played since the Super Bowl. “I don’t know how he’s going to be today,” Carroll said of Lane. “That was a little more than we wanted to play him. We’ll see how he feels.”