Seahawks WR Tyler Lockett keeps focus on present despite unclear future

RENTON, Wash. – You literally can’t get there early enough to see Tyler Lockett’s pregame workout.

More than three hours before the 5:20 p.m. kickoff of Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers – and more than an hour before gates opened to the general public – Lockett took to Lumen Field to begin what has become his regular pregame routine in his 10th NFL season.

No other players were around, and there were only a few coaches and other staffers milling about.

“I always like quiet because it allows you to focus and do what you need to do,” Lockett said.

Lockett wore a green hoodie and helmet.

He was obviously in no danger of being hit but says, “If you don’t have a helmet on, you never know where the facemask is going to be when you’re catching the ball and stuff like that. So I try to make it as realistic as possible.”

Lockett’s workout began with about 10 minutes of catching passes off a Jugs machine on the sideline.

He then transitioned to the field, running routes at a slow speed and catching tosses from offensive passing game coordinator Jake Peetz.

Peetz, who is in his first year with the team, volunteered earlier this year to throws passes to Lockett pregame.

The two worked on one side of the field, then the other, Lockett making sure to catch passes at different angles. The routes started at 15 to 18 yards or so, then increased to about 30 yards.

“Just hand-eye coordination, seeing the ball in, just little stuff like that, so that when I go play I don’t have to overthink it or overdo it,” Lockett said of the objective of his pregame workout. “It’s like I’ve already been working on it the whole day leading up to the game.”

Finally, around 3 p.m. and after about 45-50 minutes of work, and as a few players, coaches and others had begun their own pregame routines, Lockett wrapped up his workout, sharing a high-five with Peetz as he walked off the field.

Peetz said the workouts display Lockett’s dedication and attention to detail and reinforce why Lockett has had one of the best receiving careers in team history – he is second only to Steve Largent in receptions (654), yards (8,527) and touchdowns (61).

“That’s a great product of why he’s able to do it (on the field) because of how he prepares, his routine,” Peetz said. “That’s why he’s still around and able to produce the way he does. It’s really impressive.”

Fitting in his workout on the road this season has meant getting on a bus to the stadium four hours before kickoff, a bus mostly filled with nonplayers. Lockett used to arrive a little later, but says he switched it up some to fit in the workout and not have to worry about being rushed in getting dressed and receiving pregame treatment.

“I wanted to make sure like I get everything I need to do done early rather than going out there (later), then it’s like you’ve got to hurry up,” he said. “(And) it’s cool to do extra stuff when you have more peace than being seen by everybody.”

Lockett will undertake the same routine for Sunday’s 1:05 p.m. game at Lumen Field against the Minnesota Vikings.

Given that it’s the last game the Seahawks are guaranteed to play at home this season, some might wonder if Lockett will use any of that time to take a look around and soak it all in just in case.

Lockett turned 32 in September, a time in an NFL player’s life span when careers inevitably become something of a “one-year-at-a time” proposition.

He also will be entering the final year of his contract in 2025, a deal that he agreed to redo in March to save Seattle $8 million in cap space for 2024 but that moved roughly $4 million in cap space to 2025, increasing his cap hit for next season to just over $30 million. It also has no guaranteed money.

With the Seahawks having obvious needs to create cap space in 2025, speculation has arisen Lockett could either be asked to again redo his deal, or possibly even be released.

Lockett, though, said he’s not approaching the final weeks of this season as any potential end to his career.

“I plan on playing next year,” he said this week.

And one motivating factor, he said, is to be able to share the playing experience with the baby he and his wife, Lauren, are expecting in May. The two were married in the summer of 2023 and the child will be their first.

Lockett notes the timing is perfect to allow for the couple to adjust to being parents before the rigors of the season begin again in July.

“Just looking forward to it,” he said. “I get to enjoy football, I get to play as long as I can, and I get the chance to be able to take pictures with my kid and just different stuff like that to where they might not ever really understand it but as they get older they’ll be like, ‘Oh, you did play football,’ because I was able to take pictures with them.”

Lockett also said he feels fine physically.

He was limited much of training camp with some nagging injuries but said the rest days he gets during the season are just typical veteran’s days off.

“For the most part I’ve been doing really good,” he said.

Lockett’s statistics, though, have noticeably declined this season. He has 42 receptions for 533 yards with three games remaining after having caught at least 73 passes for at least 894 yards each of the previous five years.

That includes catching just eight passes for 77 yards and no touchdowns in the past five games.

“Obviously, the season has been a little different for me, like it hasn’t been I think what I’ve always been used to or accustomed to,” Lockett said. “But I can’t really change the role that I’ve been given or the opportunities that I’ve been given. You just got to kind of go out there and play and make the best out of most of the plays you have.”

Peetz said Lockett continues to draw rapt attention from opponents and said that opens things up for others.

“I think everybody would say that some of the success the guys have had in the pass game is also due to him doing what he does without the ball in his hand,” Peetz said.

Lockett’s drop in production has coincided with the rise of second-year receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who leads the Seahawks with 85 receptions for 994 yards. But Lockett professes no ill feelings over that switching of roles.

“It’s been great seeing ‘Jax’ thrive, seeing DK (Metcalf) thrive and seeing (tight end) Noah (Fant) able to make plays, seeing (rookie tight end) AJ (Barner) – it’s been great being able to see that,” Lockett said.

He’ll be out there again on the field Sunday, long before the first fan has entered the stadium, preparing for anything and everything that might come his way.