Seahawks’ Tyler Lockett suffers season-ending leg injury

The Seahawks will be without wide receiver Tyler Lockett for the remainder of the season after he suffered a gruesome leg injury Saturday against Arizona.

Lockett was hauling in a pass near the goal line in the second quarter when Cardinals cornerback Brandon Williams rolled over his right leg. The replays were cringe-worthy, showing Lockett’s foot moving in a way that feet aren’t supposed to move.

Coach Pete Carroll confirmed after Seattle’s 34-31 loss what seemed apparent at the time of the injury: Lockett’s season is over.

“I don’t know the extent of the injury other than he is going to have to have surgery,” Carroll said. “Thoughts are with him.”

After going down, Lockett was immobilized for several minutes while trainers put his right leg in an air cast. Carroll stood over Lockett while fellow receiver Doug Baldwin got on his knees and gave Lockett a hug as he was lying flat on his back. Baldwin said afterward that he was praying with Lockett. Other teammates knelt around him.

Quarterback Russell Wilson said he noticed when he got close to Lockett that “there was blood everywhere near his ankle,” which suggests he suffered a compound fracture.

He left the field on the back of a motorized cart to chants of “Lockett” from the CenturyLink Field crowd.

Doug Baldwin on the #Seahawks‘ offensive inconsistency and losing Tyler Lockett. “Pretty devastating,” he said of Lockett’s leg injury. pic.twitter.com/KXFThq477v

— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) December 25, 2016

“It’s heartbreaking, literally. I literally got weak for a second,” said wide receiver Paul Richardson, who caught the tying touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. “I know he wouldn’t have wanted us to be worried about that … he would have wanted us to play and honor him. That’s what we tried to do.”

Said Baldwin: “Obviously, with Tyler being so close to the rest of us in the receivers’ room and knowing how hard he works and how dedicated he is to his teammates, and to see him go down with the injury that he did, it was pretty devastating.”

Lockett’s catch was initially ruled a touchdown, but officials determined that he was down at the 1-yard line after an automatic replay review. Seattle had to settle for a field goal after three straight incompletions.

Lockett had assumed a starting role last week, supplanting Jermaine Kearse as Seattle’s No. 2 receiver after a string of strong performances that showed he was all the way back to full speed from a leg injury that slowed him earlier in the season. So his absence will leave a big hole in the Seahawks passing game and also on special teams, where Lockett was the team’s primary punt and kickoff returner. Paul Richardson handled kickoff return duties after Lockett went down while cornerback Richard Sherman was back for Arizona’s only punt of the second half.

Running back Thomas Rawls was also injured Saturday, suffering what Carroll called a bruised shoulder at some point in the first half. Rookie Alex Collins took over as Seattle’s primary ballcarrier in the second half. He carried seven times for 28 yards and added four catches for 19 yards.

“Nice job by Alex coming in,” Carrol said. “He did a really good job, gave us a spark and helped us out there in the third quarter.”

Strong safety Kam Chancellor left the game in the first half with an ankle injury and later returned.

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