Monday report: Ricardo Lockette on his way back to Seattle

First off, injured Seahawks receiver Ricardo Lockette is headed back to Seattle.

Lockette suffered ligament and disc damage in his neck as well as a concussion when he was hit by Dallas’s Jeff Heath while covering a punt in Seattle’s 13-12 victory at Dallas two weekends ago. Lockette underwent successful neck surgery at the Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas and remained there before being released last Thursday.

Heath, who was given a personal-foul penalty on the play, was not fined for the hit. Meanwhile, Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett was fined for his hit toward Dallas quarterback Matt Cassel’s knees in that same game, and Bennett had some strong words regarding the NFL’s pattern of fining players:

“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 Monday, the first day back for the Seahawks players following the bye week. “I didn’t look at his knee, I just ran into his knee.

“I don’t understand the NFL when it comes to fines and hits that people take, because the things you think are finable aren’t finable,” added Bennett, who intends to appeal his fine. “Take Teddy Bridgewater for example. He slides and gets hit, that’s considered a dirty hit and that guy gets fined. But then Lockette, that guys 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.”

Lockette will be placed on injured reserve and miss the remainder of the season, but he’s expected to remain with the team.

Otherwise, the Seahawks appear to be near full health coming off their week off and heading into the second half of the season. Seattle’s two players who began the season on the physically-unable-to-perform list, receiver Paul Richardson and cornerback Jeremy Lane, both could come off the list this week.

Richardson (torn ACL in his knee), who has already been back practicing with the team for two weeks, will be back in the mix for Sunday’s home game against NFC West-leading Arizona. Expect him to take Lockette’s spot on the 53-man roster.

Lane (torn ACL, broken arm), who was effective as Seattle’s nickel corner last season, returned to practice Monday in a limited fashion. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said it’s possible Lane could be activated for the Arizona game.

Tackle Russell Okung, who was inactive for the Dallas game because of an ankle injury, was back at practice Monday. Defensive end Cliff Avril (ankle) and tight end Luke Willson (ankle) were the only players on the active roster who were held out of practice Monday. However, Carroll said both should return in a limited capacity Wednesday, so Seattle could be pretty much at full strength for the start of the second half.

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