Seahawks’ Jimmy Graham to miss rest of season with knee injury

The Seahawks will be without Jimmy Graham for the remainder of the season after the tight end injured his knee in Sunday’s win over Pittsburgh.

Coach Pete Carroll said afterward that the injury is to Graham’s patellar tendon and that he will need surgery.

“We’re going to miss the heck out of him for the rest of the season,” Carroll said.

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Graham was injured in the fourth quarter while trying to bring down a pass in the end zone. He remained down while an air cast was put on his right leg before he was taken off the field on a cart.

And so ended Graham’s first season with the Seahawks, who acquired him in a blockbuster trade in March that sent center Max Unger to New Orleans. Graham entered Sunday’s game tied with Doug Baldwin for the team lead in receptions with 44 and was just behind Baldwin in receiving yards with 530. He had caught four passes for 75 yards before he went down Sunday.

“He’d been a fantastic addition to us and you saw him again today doing stuff,” Carroll said. “He was going to have a huge day today if he was able to stay out there. That’s unfortunate.”

Carroll said he didn’t know about the timetable for Graham’s return. According to Dr. David Chao, an orthopedic surgeon who was previously the head team physician for the San Diego Chargers, surgery to repair patellar tendons usually comes with a recovery period of six to nine months. The long end of that timetable would be late-August, which is shortly before the start of the 2016 regular season.

Three other Seahawks were injured Sunday. Fullback Will Tukuafu and defensive tackle Demarcus Dobbs were both evaluated for concussions while nickelback Marcus Burley injured his ankle. Carroll had no update on Burley. Of Tukuafu and Dobbs, he said: “We’ll take great care of those guys and be very patient with whatever we need to do to get them back.”