Seahawks’ Tyler Lockett takes Twitter criticism ‘with a grain of salt’

MUNICH — The past two weeks have hardly been easy for Seahawks receiver Tyler Lockett.

Dealing with rib and hamstring injuries, he also said he was “under the weather” for a few days.

He also had to weather a few rough moments on the field unlike just about any other during his storied eight-year NFL career. 

First came a dropped pass for a sure touchdown in the third quarter Oct. 30 against the Giants — his first drop since 2020. After a few “kicking himself” moments on the bench, he redeemed himself by catching the game-winning score on the next series. 

Then last week at Arizona, Lockett bore the brunt of some internet frustration after he slid as tacklers converged and came up two yards short of a first down on third-and-15 during the second quarter of a close game. After the play, Seahawks Twitter was filled with those questioning Lockett for not taking on the tacklers and getting the first down.

Lockett quickly got redemption for that, too, with a TD catch in the third quarter that put the Seahawks ahead for good in a 31-21 win.

But proof that the criticism at least sort of stung came in two Lockett tweets the next day.

“Everybody think they an analyst,” Lockett said in one. “It’s crazy to me that sports is the one job that everybody thinks they can just tell the players what they should’ve done lol.”

On Friday, during a news conference to promote Sunday’s first NFL game in Germany between the Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Lockett elaborated.

“You deal with it,” Lockett said. “I think at the end of the day, like that was probably one of the first times I fell short on third down, and everybody just thinks I always fall short on third down, you know what I mean? So I just think for me, people don’t understand how physical the game of football is.”

Indeed, Lockett said the play is illustrative of the balancing act players in his position always have to make: Take on repeated hits and possible injuries, or do what you can to get the most yards while deciding that there are times some risks might not be worth it.

Lockett is just 5-foot-10, 182 pounds. Despite that, he’s missed just one game in his NFL career, when he suffered a broken leg toward the end of the 2016 season.

Lockett said he’s long heeded the advice from one of his college coaches, to watch receivers such as former Rams standouts Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce and see how “they get what they can get, and then they get down.”

As Lockett said, “This game is also about durability.”

Still, Lockett said he wasn’t necessarily thinking he was giving up the first down when he slid.

“For the most part if my coaches tell me to get the first down, I go get the first down,” he said. “Like, I thought I had a first down. I don’t see the yellow line [on TV that shows where the first down is] like everybody else gets to see. … TV [makes it] easier for anybody to know: ‘That’s the first down. They’ve just got to get to that yellow line.’

“So for me, I just made a mistake. I didn’t get the first down. I should have got the first down. Things could have been different. But I didn’t. You learn from it. You keep moving.”

But as Lockett noted, he’s also 30 — his birthday was Sept. 28 — an age when the hits can add up, as his injuries the past few weeks illustrated.

The good news is that he’s healthier, a full participant in practice all week after being limited the previous three weeks.

“I try not to get too caught up in it, because people don’t know the injuries I’ve been dealing with the last couple of weeks and all that type of stuff,” Lockett said of the criticism of his third-down play. “They just, ‘You should have did this, this and this.’ You’ve just got to take it with a grain of salt, because you can’t please anybody, especially on the internet.”

Seahawks rub shoulders with FC Bayern

The Seahawks held their second practice Friday at the training grounds of
FC Bayern Munich soccer team.

On Friday, the FC Bayern team was also practicing on another field, and the teams briefly mingled, during which coach Pete Carroll exchanged a jersey with FC Bayern manager Julian Nagelsmann.

“It was good to meet a few players and get those guys out with our guys, just to kind of demonstrate mutual respect and all,” Carroll said.

Lockett, DK Metcalf and Tariq Woolen were given FC Bayern jerseys they later showcased for the media, posing for a group photo.

Notes

• Though the Seahawks arrived Thursday afternoon in Munich, the Buccaneers didn’t arrive until Friday morning. The Seahawks hope having more time to get acclimated makes a difference, though the Bucs obviously also had three fewer time changes to account for. Carroll said he thought the Seahawks seemed fresher Friday. “I’m glad we’ve been here for a bit, because there is definitely a physical transition that you make, and we can tell and I’m glad to get every day that we have,” he said. “By tomorrow, guys should be feeling a whole lot more grounded, and by the next day we are going to be ready.’’

• The Seahawks held a team bowling activity Thursday night designed to get all players on the local time clock. Metcalf laughed and said he didn’t fare well. “I’m not a bowler,” he said. “I just throw the ball as hard as I can at the pins and pray they all fall down.”

• Aside from backup fullback and special-teamer Cullen Gillaspia, already ruled out because of a knee injury, Seattle has only one injury question for the game — receiver Marquise Goodwin, listed as questionable because of a groin injury. Goodwin was a full participant Friday. “Marquise did well today, and today was an important day,” Carroll said. “It’ll be interesting to see how he responds tomorrow — this was his hardest day of the week — and see if he’s OK coming out of it. But it looks good, and we’re anticipating that he’s going to play.”