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Seahawks RT Abe Lucas on his health: 'I'm playing – that's a good sign'

RENTON – Much to the chagrin of fans across the Pacific Northwest, the Seattle Seahawks didn’t splurge on a big-name free agent offensive lineman this spring.

Abe Lucas: Seahawks have brand-new offensive ‘identity’

The Seahawks’ one big O-line addition came in the NFL Draft, when they used their first-round pick on North Dakota State’s Grey Zabel, who is expected to be the Week 1 starter at left guard.

But in reality, a full season of health from right tackle Abraham Lucas would also count as a significant upgrade.

Lucas, a 2022 third-round draft pick out of Washington State and an alum of Archbishop Murphy High School in Everett, initially looked like a long-term cornerstone at right tackle. He had a strong rookie campaign, starting 16 games and ranking No. 39 out of 81 tackles in Pro Football Focus grading.

But after suffering a knee injury in the 2023 season opener, Lucas has been limited to just 13 games over the past two seasons. He played just six games in 2023 and then underwent offseason knee surgery in January 2024, which sidelined him for the first half of last season. Lucas returned in Week 11 and started seven straight games before sitting out the regular-season finale, at which point the Seahawks had already been eliminated from playoff contention.

At OTA practices this spring, the 6-foot-6, 322-pound Lucas appears to be in great shape and moving well while taking the vast majority of the first-team right tackle reps.

After Wednesday’s practice, Lucas spoke with the media and was asked whether he’s 100 percent recovered from his knee issues.

“I don’t know if anybody’s ever really 100 percent healthy,” Lucas said. “I’m playing – that’s a good sign.”

But how different are things now compared to this time last year?

“Night and day,” Lucas said. “It helps when you’re not in a brace and you can actually walk without crutches. You guys have seen, I post on social media me lifting and it sends everybody into a frenzy, which I think is kind of funny. But I’m doing good work, so I’m excited about it.”

Lucas said the past two seasons have been difficult, but that he did his best to focus on what he could control.

“Obviously, I wanted to play, but unfortunately there are things in life you can’t really control,” Lucas said. “So it’s just up to you on how you want to respond. I took precautions to not let things get to my head. It’s probably the reason why I don’t have a Twitter, because I don’t need to deal with all that crap. But it’s like, OK, I had surgery, so now we’re going to go after the rehab and we’re just going to get back to getting right.”