RENTON — Seahawks receiver Tyler Lockett says he’d rather do good deeds than have to talk about them.
But the Seahawks forced his hand this week when they nominated him for the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, honoring a player for community service activities off the field.
“It really means a lot,” said Lockett. “I’m somebody that doesn’t like to tell people a lot of stuff that I do off the field. It’s kind of weird for me, because when I was nominated, then everybody’s hearing about all the stuff that I do off the field. Sometimes you just get caught up and you don’t want people to know because it makes you feel like you’re doing it for everybody to see. For me, it was just a recognition that I really take to heart and something that I appreciate because I’ve seen other people when I got here.”
Lockett’s teammate, Russell Wilson, won the award last year, the second Seahawk to do so — the other was receiver Steve Largent in 1988.
“We couldn’t have a better man of the year than Tyler Lockett in what he’s demonstrated for this football team, this organization,” Wilson said Thursday.
Lockett has focused much of his charitable work in his native Tulsa, Oklahoma.
According to a story on the team’s website, Lockett has established college scholarship programs, hosted holiday dinners for the homeless and supported Black-owned businesses such as Fulton Street Books & Coffee.
Lockett’s Light It Up Foundation also hosted a job shadow in 2019 in which four young women from Tulsa shadowed members of the Seahawks organization in Seattle. His foundation also awarded $10,000 to 12 students in the community.
“I’ve seen what (Russell Wilson) does,” said Lockett, who was drafted by Seattle in the third round in 2015 out of Kansas State. “I’ve seen what Bobby (Wagner) does. I’ve seen a whole group of people. Michael Bennet, Cliff Avril, even our general manager John Schneider. You see the stuff that people do off the field and the difference they want to make for whatever it is that they believe in.
“There’s a lot of things that I want to be able to do, but I understood that even the work that I want to do off the field is also a marathon, just like the football season. It’s a marathon; it’s never a sprint. I wanted to be able to focus on certain things, so that way when I’m done playing, I can continue to do those same things. That’s not just something that’s started and then it finishes when I’m done.”
Quandre Diggs misses second straight day
In what might have been most notable on Seattle’s injury report for Thursday, safety Quandre Diggs sat out a second straight day with a calf injury. Diggs played every snap Sunday so it’s unclear if this is a new injury or the team is just giving him some rest.
Diggs was one of seven players who sat out Thursday. Others were WR DK Metcalf (foot/illness), OL Kyle Fuller (calf), OL Brandon Shell (shoulder), DT Bryan Mone (knee), RB Travis Homer (calf/hamstring) and safety Jamal Adams (shoulder).
Metcalf has practiced little since injuring his foot before the first 49ers game on Oct. 3, but adding an illness to his designation makes his situation worth watching.
Mone was injured in Sunday’s win as was Fuller, while Shell was pulled late with what has been a nagging shoulder injury.
Adams was scheduled to have season-ending surgery on his shoulder Thursday but remains on the 53-man roster for now. The team may make a move Friday to put Adams on injured reserve and fill his spot on the roster. One possibility is adding cornerback Gavin Heslop, who is on the practice squad but can no longer be a gameday elevation and would have to be signed to the 53 to play.
If Shell can’t play, rookie Jake Curhan could get his first start at right tackle.
In good injury news, left guard Damien Lewis was a full participant for the second straight day after missing the last two games with an elbow injury. He appears on track to return this week.
Adrian Peterson part of running back mix?
Veteran Adrian Peterson, signed by the Seahawks last week, was not visible during portions of practice open to the media for the second straight day. Since he is on the practice squad, he does not have to be included on the injury report. But Peterson remains on the roster, and his absence is thought related solely to recovering from his 11 carries, good for 16 yards, against the 49ers Sunday.
Peterson can only be elevated one more time before he would have to be signed to the 53-man roster.
And the Seahawks could decide to give Peterson the week off and save that elevation for later with Alex Collins appearing healthier after getting last Sunday off and Rashaad Penny healthy.
Collins was listed as a limited participant Thursday with an abdomen issue that held him out last week but Carroll said Wednesday Collins “has a chance to be really active in this game plan.”
Carroll also said of Penny that “he’s going to play a lot this week.”
So that could have Seattle going with Collins and Penny as the lead backs with Homer and DeeJay Dallas in special teams/third-down back roles.
When he met the media following Thursday’s practice, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was predictably vague as possible when asked how the running back situation may shake out against the Texans.
“We have to wait and see how it plays out, not to tip our hands, but we are just waiting to see how it all plays out with the backs this week as we look into it,” Waldron said.
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