'Super Encouraging': Abraham Lucas, Seahawks' Offense Ready to Put Best Foot Forward vs. 49ers

In the run blocking department, Lucas delivered a pancake on a linebacker at the second level and the team averaged north of five yards per carry on nine runs behind him and rookie guard Anthony Bradford. In comparison, Seattle only rushed for 13 yards on five carries running behind Charles Cross and Damien Lewis on the left side.

Though it was far from a perfect performance after more than 10 weeks on the sidelines and the team wisely rotated Peters in with him over the course of the game, coach Pete Carroll praised Lucas for a quality return start to help ignite the Seahawks' offense, particularly in terms of physicality in the trenches.

“He looked good. He played strong football, did a nice job," Carroll said of Lucas. "He’s rusty in some stuff, totally understandable, but it’s good to have him. It felt good to have him out there pushing the piles and knocking people around. He’ll just get better. He just needed the play time.”

While Lucas declined to delve into specifics about his knee condition, the former third-round pick hinted that he's not quite 100 percent right now and still has a bit of discomfort. Calling the injury situation a "funky deal" that had been around for several years but hadn't flared up until earlier in the season, he plans to get things squared away in the offseason to ensure his knee doesn't bother him down the road.

For now, Seattle continue to proactively manage Lucas' condition, as evidenced by the fact he has been limited in practice this week. After rotating Peters in for a handful of series in Dallas last Thursday, it wouldn't be a surprise for such a strategy to be deployed for the rest of the season as part of the plan to protect the young tackle and keep him fresh.

Holding the utmost confidence in his line mates after watching them hold down the fort while he recovered from his injury, Lucas has no reservations about Peters, Stone Forsythe, or Jake Curhan stepping in to spell him if needed. Impressed by the depth the team has developed across the board, he trusts the group to get the job done regardless of who plays.

“The guys who have come in have done a really fantastic job," Lucas remarked. "You have a guy like Jason Peters who’s 41 years old and is still competing with guys my age and still showing up and doing well. Stone [Forsythe] came in and balled out, Jake [Curhan], Anthony Bradford is growing as a player. I don’t know if there was a super massive drop off necessarily, I think guys had the right attitude about it and came in and put their best foot forward.”

But after making it out of his much-anticipated return without any hitches, even if he isn't able to play every down at this point, Lucas is looking forward to doing whatever he can to help the Seahawks get back on the winning track, starting with a difficult road rematch against Nick Bosa and the 49ers on Sunday.

Last season, Lucas had mixed results against San Francisco in a trio of starts, including the wild card round in January. On one hand, he gave up a pair of sacks in a home loss in Week 15, enduring one of the toughest games of his rookie season. But in the playoff rematch, he only allowed two pressures and a sack on 41 pass pro reps, demonstrating substantial improvement against a "tenacious" pass rush.

Following a successful return last week against an equally talented defensive line, if Lucas can build off of the performance and replicate his pass protection numbers, the Seahawks will have an excellent chance to hang tight and potentially pull an upset at Levis Stadium. While knowing his work will be cut out for him, after being forced to sit out a large chunk of the season, he's eager for the challenge and hopeful the offense will pick up where they left off a week ago.

“The 49ers are a good team. They obviously have an outstanding defense; they’re coached very well. They have a few All-Pros on that side, so you know it’s going to be a battle every single game, so you just have to be ready for that.”