“Uncomfortable” Jimmy Graham has successful knee surgery, WR Paul Richardson (hamstring) may remain out a while

An “uncomfortable” Jimmy Graham had a successful yet “difficult surgery for him” to repair a ruptured patella tendon in his right knee, coach Pete Carroll said.

The Seahawks’ coach also said wide receiver Paul Richardson is not only out for Sunday’s game at Minnesota because of a hamstring injury that won’t heal but the speedy second-round draft choice from 2014 is also unlikely to play next week at Baltimore. Carroll didn’t rule out Richardson going on injured reserve so Seattle can get another, healthier wide receiver (Kasen Williams off the practice squad?) onto the active roster for upcoming games.

“In working him out and trying to get him back, he can still feel it. It just isn’t going away,” Carroll said of the injury Richardson got on his only reception of the season, a 40-yard sprint down the sidelines Nov. 15 against Arizona.

That was the only game Richardson’s played this season. He spent the first 2 1/2 months of the regular season on the physically-unable-to-perform list following his second reconstructive knee surgery in three years in January.

Those were the newsiest items in Carroll’s talk following Friday’s practice. Carroll said the Seahawks had a different tempo in practices this week -- no helmet, for instance. They then left for the airport and their flight to Minneapolis later in Friday afternoon.

“This was just for this week,” Carroll said.

The Vikings have the league’s leading rusher, Adrian Peterson, and the No. 1 run offense that will be coming right at the Seahawks’ defense Sunday.

Graham, the star tight end who got hurt late in last weekend’s win over Pittsburgh, is recovering from his surgery in Florida after a surgery back East on Wednesday. He went on injured reserve Monday.

“Everything, as the doctors report, went really well,” Carroll said. “He was uncomfortable, I know, with the next couple days (following surgery). He was fighting through it...

“But looking forward to his return and all that. His spirits are looking ahead and all that. But it was a difficult surgery for him.”

Carroll has said multiple times this week Graham will be back playing for the start of the 2016 season.

The Seahawks are going to be without defensive tackle Jordan Hill in Minnesota because of an unspecified toe injury. Plus fellow defensive lineman Demarcus Dobbs will be out because of a concussion. That means A.J. Francis, the part-time Uber driver Seattle signed off waivers from Miami last month, then cut and re-signed, will play against the Vikings backing up tackles Ahtyba Rubin and Brandon Mebane.

“He plays big. We think he will hold the point real well,” Carroll said of Francis, who came off the practice squad Monday to take Graham’s place on the active roster.

Francis holding the point real well Sunday would be timely. The Vikings will run the ball inside with Peterson, nicknamed “All Day.”

Though the Seahawks list defensive back Marcus Burley as questionable with a sprained ankle, Carroll said he expects Burley to play. DeShawn Shead will make his second career start at cornerback and Jeremy Lane is back at nickel for the second consecutive week after making his season debut last weekend.

This story was originally published December 4, 2015 at 3:15 PM with the headline "“Uncomfortable” Jimmy Graham has successful knee surgery, WR Paul Richardson (hamstring) may remain out a while."