Lockette has surgery

RENTON, Wash. — Seattle wide receiver Ricardo Lockette had surgery to stabilize ligaments in his neck Monday, a day after being taken off the field on a backboard just before halftime of Sunday’s game at Dallas.

Lockette underwent surgery at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas and was still in surgery when Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll held his weekly news conference Monday afternoon. The team said Lockette has full motion and feeling in all his extremities and a good prognosis.

“The emotional part of losing one of our guys and knowing he has to go through major surgery and all of that, it’s very personal to us. That’s all. I think like (a) family feeling, like when someone in your family gets sick, our guys responded in that way,” Carroll said.

Lockette will miss the rest of the season and his long-term prognosis is still to be determined. His family was with him in Dallas, along with teammates Marshawn Lynch and Russell Okung who remained behind after the Seahawks held on for a 13-12 victory.

“It’s serious. He’s got ligament issue and disk issue is what we know so they’re going to take care of that,” Carroll said.

Lockette posted a message on Twitter on Monday morning thanking fans, teammates and his family for their support and saying: “Can’t wait (to) get back with my teammates in Seattle.”

Lockette was injured when he was running down the field on punt coverage and appeared to be engaged with another Dallas player before he turned and was hit by safety Jeff Heath. Lockette immediately slumped to the ground and appeared to be unconscious when trainers and medical officials got there to attend to him.

After Lockette was put on a stretcher and loaded onto a motorized cart several minutes later, the receiver’s facemask had been removed from his helmet and he could be seen talking while moving both hands. He pointed his right hand toward his Seattle teammates on the sideline and then thrust his index finger high into the air.