Several injured Seattle Seahawks players return, participate in OTAs

RENTON, Wash. -- Several injured Seattle Seahawks players that were expected to be extremely limited at this point in the offseason are progressing ahead of schedule.

Running back Eddie Lacy, safeties Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor, wide receiver Tyler Lockett and left guard Luke Joeckel all were able to take part in Friday's OTA in a limited fashion.

"The guys we thought might be more slowed up at this time are really out there, able to get enough work that they're feeling continuity and getting the workload," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said.

All five players did not take part in full team drills but were able to participate in the early stages of practice. Lacy and Chancellor are coming back from ankle surgeries, Thomas and Lockett both suffered broken legs, and Joeckel tore his left ACL early last season.

Carroll said Joeckel has been able to take part in all of the team's offseason work up until now as he continues to recover from a left ACL injury last year.

"I think I'm a little bit ahead of schedule, definitely participating more than I thought I would be at this time and getting to be able to do some individual, do some of the team walk-through stuff, and getting reps -- that's most important, not putting it all off until training camp to get those mental reps, and it'll be a huge help," Joeckel said.

Thomas was also a player that Carroll went out of his way to mention.

"He was able to get a lot of reps and he was working at top speed and he was really fired up about it too because he wasn't quite sure himself how far he could go, so he's making good progress," Carroll said.

Lockett has the farthest still to go of the group as he recovers from a broken leg sustained in December. However, Carroll said earlier this offseason that Lockett should be ready in time for training camp.