Seahawks hope for healthy TE Graham

Sep 21, 2017 - 5:35 AM The status of Jimmy Graham is up in the air as he attempts to recover from an ankle sprain in order to play this Sunday for Seattle Seahawks against the Tennessee Titans.

Graham injured his left ankle against the San Francisco 49ers when safety Eric Reid fell into his legs from behind while Graham was blocking on a running play.

"He's not going to practice today and we will wait a couple days to see how he does," head coach Pete Carroll said. "He's had the same injury before and we think he's got a chance to do it. His mindset is that he can play, but we will have to wait and see later in the week."

However, Graham hasn't been particularly effective through the first two games of the season. He's caught four passes for just nine yards on 10 total targets from Russell Wilson. Two of those four receptions came behind the line of scrimmage as dump-off options for Wilson as he was under pressure in Green Bay.

"He hasn't had many opportunities to do much so far," Carroll said. "He hasn't caught a lot of balls because we haven't got a lot to him. The balls he's got have been a lot of short stuff that's happened so far. That's the way it's gone."

Luke Willson may need to step into a starting role this week should Graham be unable to play against the Titans. Willson caught three passes for 25 yards against the 49ers last week, including a 19-yard catch where he hurdled safety Jaquiski Tartt.

"He's such a magnificent part of the spirit of this team and the way that he carries himself," Carroll said of Willson, who re-signed with the team after reaching free agency last offseason. "He's a great teammate and he demonstrates that regularly, and we just wanted him on our club. He's off to a great start (this season)."

Willson has stepped into a starting role before. He started 10 games in 2014 when Zach Miller was lost for the season. He's ready to be called upon again should the opportunity present itself.

"I don't know the situation with Jimmy but whatever the situation is," Willson said. "Offensively we got a lot of issues we've got to iron out and I've got to do whatever is asked of me so I haven't really thought if Jimmy's going or not going, I'm just going into Wednesday, doing my thing and go for there."



--The Seahawks know they will face a stern test from the running game of the Titans this Sunday.

With running backs DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry, and the running ability of quarterback Marcus Mariota, the Seahawks will have to be extremely disciplined to make sure they don't allow any big plays on the ground.

--Running back Eddie Lacy was a surprise healthy scratch for the Seahawks in last week's game against the San Francisco 49ers.

The free-agent addition had just five carries for three yards against the Green Bay Packers in Week 1, but with Thomas Rawls returning from injury and Chris Carson and C.J. Prosise also healthy, Lacy was forced to watch the game in street clothes.

"I think right in there," head coach Pete Carroll said Monday as to how Lacy fits in the running back group. "It was really unfortunate that we had to make that move because I want Eddie playing. But we did it to make sure we would get Thomas up and a couple things that we were concerned about. We will see; each week is a different story for us.

"It depends on what is going on with the rest of the roster and who we can keep up and who we can't get up, so it's just a weekly challenge for us to figure out. We want everyone out, but we can't have that all the time."