Seattle’s right tackle plays 42 snaps after missing nearly a year with injury.
On the field at Levi’s Stadium for the last of his 42 snaps during the Seattle Seahawks’ 20-17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, right tackle Abraham Lucas celebrated for multiple reasons when quarterback Geno Smith scored the go-ahead touchdown with 12 seconds remaining in the game.
“I can tell you for the last probably five or six plays I was breathing very heavy,” said Lucas, who starred at Archbishop Murphy High School and Washington State University before the Seahawks selected him in the 2022 draft. “It’s been almost a year since I’ve played, right? When Geno took off and I knew he was going to score, I said ‘Thank you Jesus’ then turned and walked towards the sidelines. I needed to go get some oxygen.”
Lucas started 17 games for the Seahawks as a rookie in 2022 before things took an unfortunate turn. The 6-foot-6, 322-pound lineman took the field in the season opener as the starter at right tackle but left the 30-13 loss to the LA Rams with an injury. He missed 10 games, then played in the next five. Prior to Sunday, his last snap came in a 30-23 loss to Pittsburgh on New Year’s Eve of 2023.
On Sunday, he started the game with a new head coach, a new offensive line coach and three new starters lined up to his left.
Lucas and the Seahawks have been quiet about the nature of the injury, other than there was some type of knee procedure in January. First-year Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald has said the recovery took longer than expected despite Lucas working hard to return. Macdonald liked what he saw from Lucas on Sunday, and said on Monday that his tackle came out of the game with no setbacks.
