Seattle Seahawks tight end Jimmy Graham suffered a right knee injury in Sunday's 39-30 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, and will miss the remainder of the season.
Coach Pete Carroll said after the game that the injury to Graham's patellar tendon will require surgery. Carroll gave no return timetable for the star tight end, whom Seattle acquired from the New Orleans Saints in an offseason trade for center Max Unger.
"We've loved Jimmy Graham coming to our team and we are very grateful that he has been a part of it and we are going to miss the heck out of him the rest of the season," Carroll said, calling it "unfortunate."
Luke Willson will now step into the starting role and called the new of Graham's injury "tough."
"Everybody loves him," Willson said. "Great guy in the locker room and extremely hard worker, for a guy with his talent to see him work as hard as he does is pretty cool and you don't ever want to see that happen to anyone on the NFL let alone a guy like Jimmy,"
"I know Jimmy, he is probably down right now but what I have gotten to know of him these past six, seven months he will attack this rehab and be back next year."
The injury occurred with 13:36 to go in the fourth quarter, as Graham attempted to catch a pass in the right corner of the end zone. He landed awkwardly and his right leg appeared to buckle. He was taken to the locker room on the back of a cart.
The play came two snaps after Richard Sherman's first interception of the season with 14:05 to go, which he caught at the Seattle 35-yard line and returned 26 yards to the Pittsburgh 39. The Seahawks eventually scored on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Russell Wilson to Jermaine Kearse, his second scoring catch of the day, with 12:17 to go in the game.
In other injury news Sunday: Kansas City All-Pro linebacker Justin Houston was tripped by a teammate in the first half of the Chiefs' 30-22 victory against Buffalo and departed with a knee injury. Left tackle Eric Fisher hurt his neck while center Mitch Morse sustained a concussion, and neither made it back onto the field. ... Tight end Tyler Eifert left in the fourth quarter of Cincinnati's 31-7 victory over St. Louis with a pinched nerve in his neck. ... Linebacker Bruce Carter left Tampa Bay's 25-12 loss at Indianapolis with a concussion. Colts linebacker Jerrell Freeman did not return after hurting his hamstring, and running back Ahmad Bradshaw left with a wrist injury. ... Giants offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz fractured his lower left leg during New York's 20-14 loss at Washington. ... Arizona cornerback Jerraud Powers injured his calf in the third quarter of a 19-13 victory at San Francisco, while running back Andre Ellington hurt a foot and running back Chris Johnson a knee.
Big-time duo
San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers reached 40,000 yards passing in his 159th game for the fourth-fastest rate in NFL history. Only Drew Brees (152 games), Hall of Famer Dan Marino (153) and Peyton Manning (154) accomplished the feat in fewer games. Rivers tossed two of his four touchdown passes in Sunday's 31-25 victory at Jacksonville to Antonio Gates, who has 21 games with multiple touchdown receptions. That is the highest total for a tight end and the eighth-most such games among all players.
Milestones
Vikings star Adrian Peterson moved into 18th on the NFL's rushing list with 11,354 yards, passing O.J. Simpson (11,236), Corey Dillon (11,241) and John Riggins (11,352). He ran for 158 yards and two touchdowns in a 20-10 victory at Atlanta. ... Bills running back LeSean McCoy had 70 yards rushing and 31 yards receiving to surpass 10,000 yards from scrimmage for his career. ... Ryan Fitzpatrick made his 100th start and was 22 for 37 for 277 yards and four touchdowns in the New York Jets' 38-20 win against the Miami Dolphins. ... Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald had 10 catches for 66 yards, surpassing Hall of Famer Steve Largent for 16th place on the career list for yards receiving and moving him into 12th place for receptions past Randy Moss.
Sports on 11/30/2015