Seahawks Must Exercise Caution Working Abraham Lucas Back From Injury

Back on the practice field Wednesday after being sidelined for two months by a knee issue, the Seattle Seahawks hope to see their offensive line return to full strength with starting right tackle Abraham Lucas on the mend.

However, while Lucas has progressed enough through his rehab to practice, Seattle isn't going to expedite the process of installing him back into the starting lineup either. As coach Pete Carroll acknowledged prior to Wednesday's practice, with a 21-day window now open that provides plenty of flexibility, the team needs to see how the second-year blocker's troublesome knee responds in coming days before considering when he may be ready to suit up for game action again.

“No. We just made it to the time where he can come to practice. Don’t know that yet," Carroll said when asked if Lucas had fully recovered from his injury. "He can’t rehab anymore to get ready, he’s ready to go. We’ve been very careful to do that properly and take our time, but we need to see how the rigors of the practice figures into it all and see how he bounces back. It’s been kind of a chronic thing; you have to make sure you’ve left it in the past. We’ll see what happens.”

As has been the case since Lucas exited early in the third quarter of the Seahawks season-opening loss to the Rams, the player's situation remains somewhat mysterious. At the time, Carroll suggested he wasn't injured and was dealing with recurring "patellar area soreness" that ultimately required an injection and a lengthy stay on injured reserve.

Back on Oct. 31, Carroll provided a somewhat spooky Halloween update on Lucas' status, admitting that the former Washington State standout still had discomfort in his knee. At the time, though the player was running and working out, the Seahawks were still trying to find ways to alleviate that discomfort and get him over the hump, a sign that he may still be several weeks away from returning to play or could even be at risk for missing the rest of the season.

Then on Wednesday, Carroll again used the dreaded chronic term to describe Lucas' condition, indicating Seattle would need to continue managing him carefully to ensure he's all the way back and not force the issue before he's truly ready. Reading between the lines, one could speculate his potential return rides partly on his ability to play through pain at less than 100 percent.

If there's a silver lining, however, the Seahawks have been able to stay afloat without Lucas thanks to Stone Forsythe and Jason Peters, who have performed admirably in his stead over the past several weeks. In particular, Peters turned back the clock last weekend against the Commanders in a vintage showing, giving up only one pressure in pass protection and dominating in the trenches as a punishing run blocker.