Carroll on trade for now-injured Jimmy Graham: “A great, long-term decision”

Jimmy Graham had knee surgery Wednesday on the East Coast. So ends his Seahawks debut season, at least one month early.

Graham went on injured reserve Monday with a ruptured patellar tendon, the injury he got from his knee buckling under him on an incomplete pass in the end zone late in Seattle’s win last weekend over Pittsburgh.

The NFL’s most accomplished tight end since 2011 finished his 2015 with 48 catches. That is two behind Doug Baldwin for the current team lead. Graham gained 605 yards and scored a career-low two touchdowns.

Seattle traded two-time Pro Bowl center Max Unger and a first-round draft choice to New Orleans in March for Graham, then had problems at center until two weeks ago.

So how does Seahawks coach Pete Carroll assess the deal one season in?

“Oh, I love him on our team. I love him,” the coach said about Graham on Wednesday, four days before the Seahawks (6-5) play at NFC North-leading Minnesota (8-3). “He’s a terrific teammate. He brings character and personality to our team. He’s a dynamic player. I can only see for really cool things to happen in our future.

“That is a great, long-term decision that we made. We are happy to have him. Miss the heck out of them.”

Yes, long-term decision. Graham turned 29 last week. He has two more, nonguaranteed years, $8.9 million in base salary for 2015 and $7.9 million in base pay for 2016 on the four-year, $40 million contract he signed with the Saints before last season. The years remaining contain no potential “dead” money against the Seahawks’ salary cap — that is, no prorated bonuses.

Graham is likely have his leg braced into February, according to information and timetables for recovery from the Orthopaedic Trauma Center at the University of California-San Francisco and San Francisco General Hospital.

“After the surgery, it typically takes between six and eight weeks for the tendon to heal,” the clinic states. “During that time, the knee is kept straight in a brace for a majority of the time to allow the repair to heal without stretching out. Once the surgeon has determined that the repair is healed, physical therapy begins in order to regain motion of the knee and strength in the quadriceps.”

Carroll said again Wednesday that Graham will be back for the start of the 2016 season.

Luke Willson, who has 12 catches through 11 games as Graham’s backup, is now the starting tight end. The Seahawks signed free-agent Chase Coffman on Tuesday and are working him in to see what kind of blocker he may be or become.

LYNCH STILL BACK EAST, TOO

Marshawn Lynch was still in Philadelphia on Wednesday, more than a week after he had abdominal surgery there. Carroll said that’s so “he could be under the guidance of their rehab” at the clinic where the lead running back had his surgery.

The team has no update on when Lynch may return to playing. The original estimate of a perhaps four-week recovery would mean he could be back for the Dec. 20 home game against Cleveland, the third-to-last game of the regular season.

NOWAK ALREADY BACK

One day after the Seahawks waived Drew Nowak, their starting center for the first five games of this season, he was back practicing.

Nowak, who lost his job in October to Patrick Lewis, cleared waivers and Seattle signed him to its practice squad.

Seattle cut wide receiver Douglas McNeill from the practice squad.

LEWIS TALKS MORE, EARNS STARTING CENTER JOB

Lewis is receiving coaches’ praise for becoming more vocal and thus a better communicator to his linemates this season than he was while starting four games for the injured Unger last season.

Lewis is also getting credit for the recent turnaround for the line and thus Seahawks’ entire offense. Seattle has scored 68 points in the last two games while dramatically improving its third-down conversions (15 for 27) and red-zone production (six touchdowns in seven trips).

Offensive line coach Tom Cable called it “one of the funnest things I’ve gotten to watch come together in my career.”

Cable has been saying since August that this remade line, with new starters in three positions, has a chance to be the most athletic one he’s had. It’s looking much better than it did even one month ago.

“We’ve played really well,” offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said. “I think our guys have executed about as well as they’ve executed in a long time.”

But, as Bevell cautioned, that won’t mean much if the Seahawks don’t continue it.

“We have to continue to work on everything, because we know how fast it can go back the other way,” Bevell said. “Just because we were 53 percent and 4 for 4 in the red zone (against Pittsburgh), that doesn’t mean that we have it nailed. So we have to continue to work. Continue to work on it as a whole group and make sure that we don’t let those things slip.”

EXTRA POINTS

Russell Wilson on Wednesday joined Peyton Manning as the only quarterbacks to win a conference player-of-the-week award in each of their first four seasons. It’s the fifth time Wilson’s won NFC offensive player of the week, the most by any Seahawks QB. … Carroll had said Monday that the team expected WR Paul Richardson to practice at least on a limited basis Wednesday in hopes of him playing Sunday. But Richardson’s hamstring injury, which has caused him to miss the last two games, kept the second-year wide receiver out again. … DT Jordan Hill missed practice with a toe injury. … FB Will Tukuafu and DL Demarcus Dobbs missed practice as they continue on the league’s concussion protocol. Carroll said each player is doing well, and he didn’t rule them out of Sunday’s game. … CB Marcus Burley did not practice because of what Carroll said is a “minor” sprained ankle.

This story was originally published December 2, 2015 at 10:13 PM with the headline "Carroll on trade for now-injured Jimmy Graham: “A great, long-term decision”."