Richardson steps up, gives Seahawks lift

You’d never know it after watching him against the Detroit Lions, but Seattle Seahawks wideout Paul Richardson hates one-handed catches.

Rather than spending his practice time trying to emulate Odell Beckham Jr. with flashy, one-handed grabs, Richardson would rather make sure he can be surehanded.

“I never do them. In practice, when they do one-handed catches, I always put two hands on the ball,” he said.

But there Richardson was Saturday night, with two highlight-reel worthy onehanded grabs as he sparked the Seahawks offense in a 26-6 win against the Lions in the wild-card round of the NFC playoffs.

His second-quarter touchdown was especially impressive, as he reached around defensive back Tavon Wilson to haul in the pass from quarterback Russell Wilson with his left hand.

“Unbelievable catch,” Wilson said. “He works at it. He’ll catch anything you throw at him.”

It might have helped Richardson that while he was reaching for the ball with his left hand he got a hold of Tavon Wilson’s face mask. He wasn’t flagged, but the Lions defensive back was called for pass interference.

“I was locked in on the ball. All I know is, I saw the ball in the air, I reached for it, and I grabbed it,” Richardson said.

If you haven’t heard much about Richardson, it’s because he lost most of his first two NFL seasons to injuries — an anterior cruciate ligament injury in 2014 and a hamstring injury after Week 1 in 2015.

Meanwhile, the Seahawks drafted a similar receiver, in both speed and body type, in Tyler Lockett, who emerged as a star and pushed Richardson down the depth chart.

But Lockett suffered a broken leg last month, and Richardson has taken advantage of increased playing time.

He had eight catches for 82 yards with a touchdown in the Seahawks’ last two regular-season games and finished Saturday with three catches for 48 yards.

That included a second one-handed grab, again with his left hand, in the fourth quarter.

“It means a lot. I’m just happy I was able to help,” said Richardson, who is finally part of a Seahawks postseason run. “It challenged my maturity, it challenged my attitude, and it challenged a lot of me, because I knew what I was capable of while I was watching people play. It’s just coming full circle now.”