Seahawks’ Lucas ‘felt pretty good’ in return from 1st extended absence

RENTON — Abraham Lucas doesn’t have much experience in sitting out.

The Archbishop Murphy High School graduate and Seattle Seahawks right tackle was a notable iron man during his time at Washington State University, starting 42 straight games from 2018-21. So Lucas’ recent stint on injured reserve because of a knee injury was a new phenomenon.

But Lucas returned to the field during Seattle’s 41-35 loss to the Dallas Cowboys last Thursday, and while he’s not yet back to 100%, he’s ready to aid the Seahawks’ cause as they battle for a playoff spot during the season’s final five weeks.

“(After the Dallas game I felt) about as good as you can feel after hitting a bunch of people for however long,” Lucas said when he met with reporters Thursday at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center “I felt OK.

“It felt good for the plays that I was out there. It felt pretty good.”

Lucas, a 2017 graduate of Archbishop Murphy, has been a key member of the Seahawks’ offensive line ever since he was selected in the third round of the 2022 NFL draft. The towering 6-foot-6, 322-pound Lucas earned the starting right tackle position as a rookie and stared 16 of Seattle’s 17 games last season.

Lucas played this season’s opener against the Los Angeles Rams, but afterward was placed on injured reserve because of a lingering knee injury. He missed 10 games before returning to action last week.

“I don’t know if I was surprised (at missing 10 games), I was more disappointed,” Lucas said. “Things happen. Things out of your control happen, so I just tried to roll with it as best as I could.

“It’s kind of a funky deal,” Lucas added about the injury. “I’ve dealt with some stuff when I was in college, but it never really flared up on me until recently.”

When asked if it was something that would need fixing in the offseason, Lucas answered: “Rest assured, I will be getting on top of it. I’m not going into detail about it.”

In the meantime Lucas is playing. He started at right tackle against the Cowboys and played 41 or Seattle’s 69 offensive snaps. Lucas rotated with 41-year-old veteran Jason Peters, who was the primary right tackle the previous five weeks in Lucas’ absence.

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

Seattle’s offense, which was awful in three of the previous four games, sparked to life against the Cowboys. The Seahawks gained 406 yards against one of the league’s top defenses, and the 35 points were more than Seattle scored in those three defeats (against Baltimore, the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco) combined. One can only speculate about how much Lucas’ return played into the improvement, but it was a positive sign for the Seahawks nonetheless.

“It was super encouraging,” Lucas said. “That’s the main goal all of the time for any offense across the league, to show up in that way every single game. It’s just on us to continue that now and keep putting our best foot forward.”

The timing of Lucas’ return was fortuitous, as the Thursday game at Dallas gave Lucas three extra days to recover ahead of Sunday’s trip to play San Francisco. Lucas was limited in practice this week, but is not listed on Seattle’s injury report.

The task gets no easier for Seattle (6-6) on Sunday, particularly the offense. The 49ers are 9-3, rank second in the NFL in scoring defense, and are coming off an impressive 42-19 victory at NFL-leading Philadelphia — not to mention the 31-13 pasting they put on the Seahawks at Lumen Field on Thanksgiving.

“The 49ers are a good team,” Lucas said. “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 have to be ready for that.”