RENTON — Injured Seattle Seahawks receiver Ricardo Lockette returned to Seattle on Monday.
Lockette, who had to undergo neck surgery after getting hurt in Seattle’s 13-12 victory at Dallas two Sundays ago, flew with his family from Dallas and was scheduled to touch down in Seattle on Monday night.
“All the reports are that things have gone well,” Seattle head coach Pete Carroll said Monday at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center. “We probably won’t see him until (Tuesday), but they were all good signs.
“He has a great spirit, so he bounced back with an attitude that wouldn’t surprise us,” Carroll added. “He couldn’t wait to get back to his teammates and get back with us.”
Lockette was injured toward the end of the first half against Dallas. Lockette was covering a punt when he was hit hard by Dallas’ Jeff Heath, knocking Lockette unconscious. Lockette suffered ligament and disc damage in his neck, as well as a concussion, and had to be taken off the field on a stretcher. Heath was given a personal-foul penalty on the play, but was not fined by the league.
Lockette was taken to the Baylor University Medical Center, where he underwent successful surgery last Monday. He was released from the hospital three days later.
Two of Lockette’s teammates, tackle Russell Okung and running back Marshawn Lynch, remained in Dallas to stay with Lockette as the rest of the team flew home following the game.
“Life’s more important,” Okung said. “Football is not life, it’s just a part of what we do and it’s something we all love to do. But you just can’t take anything for granted. We get to play a game, it’s a game at the end of the day. Just seeing him there, you hate that for him. How Ricardo ends up, I don’t know. But he’s an even better man than he is a player.
“He’s a part of us, and he will be all year,” Okung added. “We’re not where we are without him.”
While Lockette returned to Seattle, he won’t be returning to the field. The Seahawks will place Lockette on injured reserve and he won’t play again this season.
“It’s going to be a considerable recovery, so he’s going to lay low,” Carroll said. “There’s stuff he’s going to be doing, but it’s not extensive right not. He’s going to rest for a while.”
Bennett to appeal fine
Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett said he plans to appeal the fine he received for hitting Dallas quarterback Matt Cassel. Bennett was fined $20,000 for hitting Cassel near the knees late in the first half.
Bennett was not impressed by the fine.
“They fined me for falling into a guy’s leg, and (Heath) was intentionally looking for a guy and calling him out and going and hitting that guy,” Bennett said. “I didn’t look at (Cassel’s) knee, I just ran into his knee.
“I don’t understand the NFL when it comes to fines and the hits that people take, because the things you think are finable aren’t finable,” Bennett added. “Take (Minnesota Vikings quarterback) Teddy Bridgewater for example. He slides and gets hit, that’s considered a dirty hit and (St. Louis’ Lamarcus Joyner) gets fined. But then Lockette, that guy does that to Lockette and they say that’s a clean hit. It never makes any sense, it’s all about the position the player plays to decide what’s finable and what’s not finable.”
Check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/seattlesidelines, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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