Seahawks beat Vikings 20-13, lose LT Fant to knee injury

SEATTLE — The Seattle Seahawks’ starters looked sharp Friday night in their second preseason game. Unfortunately for the Seahawks, they lost one of those starters to serious injury.

Seattle’s first-teamers looked good for the second straight outing as the Seahawks defeated the Minnesota Vikings 20-13 at CenturyLink Field.

However, Seattle suffered a major blow in the second quarter when starting left tackle George Fant had to be carted off the field with a knee injury that likely ends his season. Fant went down after teammate Justin Britt rolled up on his right leg from behind, with Fant grabbing his knee. Fant’s leg was placed in an air cast before he went off on the cart, and after the game Seahawks coach Pete Carroll revealed Fant suffered an ACL injury that will require surgery.

Fant was one of the surprises of 2016 when, as an undrafted rookie who had been a basketball player in college, he finished the season as the starter at left tackle. Optimism was rampant about Fant during the offseason as he added 25 pounds to reach 322, along with an anticipated improvement based on his lack of previous experience. However, the injury derails those plans.

“Really broken-hearted by George Fant getting hurt,” Carroll said. “Just unfortunate. He’s done so much, come so far, everybody’s cheering for him and rooting for him all along. Then he’s going to be in trouble getting back this season.”

Rees Odhiambo replaced Fant following the injury. Carroll also mentioned Luke Joeckel, who’s been the starter at left guard, as being capable of playing left tackle.

Otherwise it was a near-perfect night for Seattle’s starters, who departed late in the first half with the Seahawks (2-0) leading 14-3. Quarterback Russell Wilson was 13-for-18 for 206 yards and two touchdowns, leading Seattle on two scoring drives of 77 yards or more. Receiver Kasen Williams continued to state his case for making the team, making an acrobatic one-handed catch on a deep ball and also catching a touchdown. And on defense Seattle kept the Vikings contained, with Earl Thomas — returning from the broken leg that ended his 2016 season — looking like his old self.

“I thought in the first half the first offense did a nice job,” Carroll said. “I thought Russell was really sharp. We didn’t run the ball quite as well as we would have liked to, but we did make some yards and did some things that kept it moving. And we saw some terrific plays made — Kasen made a couple great plays.”

Wilson and Seattle’s offense got things started on the game’s opening drive. Four plays after Williams’ one-handed catch put the Seahawks in the red zone, Williams grabbed a 1-yard fade to the right corner to give Seattle a 7-0 lead.

Seattle’s second long drive came late in the second quarter. Wilson’s 32-yard pass to tight end Nick Vannett down the seam converted second-and-20 and got the Seahawks into Minnesota territory. Then on third-and-4 from the 22 Wilson dumped a pass to Mike Davis in space in the left flat. Davis made a couple defenders miss before stumbling into the end zone to make it 14-3.

Seattle’s offense slowed down once the starters gave way to the backups. However, the back-up defenders made sure the Vikings couldn’t threaten the Seahawks’ lead in the second half.

The Seahawks also received a pair of 52-yard field goals from new kicker Blair Walsh. After both kicks, Walsh, who was cut by the Vikings last season, gestured toward the Minnesota sideline.

Minnesota fell to 1-1.

Extra points

Among those who didn’t play for the Seahawks on Friday because of injury were running backs Thomas Rawls (ankle) and C.J. Prosise (groin), receivers Tyler Lockett (leg) and Paul Richardson (shoulder), tight ends Jimmy Graham (back spasms) and Luke Willson (groin), and linebacker K.J. Wright (knee). Lockett, Richardson, Graham and Willson all took part in warm-ups, but did not play. Wright is away from the team undergoing what was described as a non-surgical process on his knee. … Among those who did play was cornerback Tramaine Brock, the former San Francisco 49ers starter who was signed by Seattle on Wednesday after he and the 49ers had a falling out as a result of a domestic-violence charge that was later dropped. … Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett sat during the national anthem for the second straight game. Britt stood at Bennett’s side during the anthem with his hand on Bennett’s shoulder. Cornerback Jeremy Lane also stood near Bennett, his back to the field.