Last November, Seahawks tight end Jimmy Graham went down with a torn right patellar tendon. The injury knocked him out for the rest of the season, and most of the offseason as well. Though he has been practicing in full in recent days, it's apparently not a guarantee that he suits up for the Seahawks in their season opener against the Miami Dolphins next weekend.
According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, it is a "possibility, but from my understanding, it is absolutely not a foregone conclusion" that Graham will be on the field. He's off the PUP list and the Seahawks are optimistic about his availability, but "there is another step, from what I understand, between going from practicing fully and being absolutely ready to play."
Knee injuries are always tricky to time up, and it appears Graham's is no different. Seattle will want to get him on the field as soon as it can, but also needs to make sure that he's really ready to go and not limited in any way. If you try to rush someone back they can get re-injured and wind up missing even more time. Victor Cruz wound up missing the entire 2015 season after re-injuring himself while working back from a patella injury he suffered midway through the 2014 campaign, for example.
The Seahawks exploded offensively down the stretch of last season even without Graham, as Russell Wilson, Doug Baldwin, and Tyler Lockett played starring roles. They can likely weather any short absence for Graham at the start of this season, but they can certainly use his size over the middle of the field and especially in the red zone, where they can isolate him on smaller cornerbacks or slower linebackers when he lines up out wide.
