Seahawks give optimistic update on Damien Lewis injury

The Seahawks have mostly been fortunate not to have many players be injured in preseason but Damien Lewis’s injury against the Bears looked bad. Thankfully, it isn’t as bad as it first appeared, it seems.

Lewis left in the first half after having his leg rolled up on and had to be carted off the field. (This was shortly after some idiot tweeted out about how lucky the Seahawks have been compared to other teams that none of their players have been hurt. And that idiot was me.)

When Lewis went down, it looked like his ankle could possibly have been broken. It didn’t seem much better after he had a brace put on and was wheeled off the field.

But we learned from head coach Pete Carroll later that the X-rays on Lewis’s ankle were negative for a broken bone and instead he had a lateral ankle sprain.

Seahawks guard Damien Lewis thankfully missed on having a long-term injury

So what is a lateral ankle sprain exactly? The injury refers to partial or complete tearing and/or disruption of the ankle ligaments on the outside of the ankle. People who play a sport can usually recover by applying ice, resting the leg, elevating the leg and possibly applying compression on the injury area, like a walking boot.

Persons can usually recover from a lateral ankle sprain between two and 12 weeks. That last number is a bit alarming for an NFL player as it would mean most of the season. Of course, had Lewis broken the ankle he would certainly be done for the year.

There is no firm timetable on when Lewis will be back but it’s safe to assume he will miss at least some games at the start of the season. Phil Haynes will take his spot. Haynes has looked pretty good in training camp and preseason so far.