Seattle Seahawks Designate OT Abraham Lucas to Return to Practice
As expected per updates from coach Pete Carroll, the Seattle Seahawks designated starting right tackle Abraham Lucas to return to practice from injured reserve on Wednesday, paving the way for him to potentially play this weekend against the Los Angeles Rams.
With the move, Seattle now has a 21-day window to activate Lucas to the 53-man roster or he would revert to season-ending injured reserve. This provides up to three weeks of roster flexibility for the team as the player works back into football shape.
Lucas, who started 16 out of 17 regular season games at right tackle as a rookie for the Seahawks last season, exited the team's season opening loss to the Rams early in the second half with knee discomfort. He received an injection in the knee after landing on injured reserve and has missed the past eight games with Jake Curhan, Stone Forsythe, and Jason Peters all taking snaps in his absence.
Due to his long layoff, Lucas may need more than three practices to be ready to play, putting his status for Sunday's rematch with the Rams up in the air. However, Carroll didn't rule out the possibility of him suiting up on Monday and acknowledged it was too early to know whether or not he would be available.
"We're going to see," Carroll said of Lucas potentially playing this weekend. 'We're going to see what he does, what he looks like and how he feels about it and how he responds to the workload of the actual football stuff. He has a chance, he could. We'll see what happens."
Though Lucas will be on the practice field, he doesn't currently count against Seattle's 53-man limit. If he isn't quite ready to play this weekend, Forsythe could receive his fifth straight start at right tackle, though it's also possible Peters could be signed from the practice squad to the active roster to step into the lineup instead after an impressive performance in last week's win over Washington.
Sidelined for two months by a knee issue, the Seahawks hope to have Abraham Lucas back in the starting lineup as early as Sunday against the Rams.
© Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
In order to activate Lucas and/or sign Peters to the roster, the Seahawks will have to make at least one roster move with no spots currently open. After being activated from injured reserve last week, receiver Dareke Young tweaked his abdominal injury in his 2023 debut and deactivating him for the rest of the season could be on the table, though Carroll provided a somewhat encouraging update on his status on Monday.
"When they tested him, he was better than they had anticipated. It’s a shock that something yanked or something happened, and he felt better after a little while, after the game," Carroll said.
Seattle also has undrafted rookies McClendon Curtis and Raiqwon O'Neal on the roster and could try to sneak one or both through waivers with hopes of re-signing them on the practice squad. All other 31 teams would have a 24-hour window to place a claim on them, and after losing cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly to Green Bay in a similar maneuver last week, there's no guarantee either would be back.
