Seahawks WR Tyler Lockett describes brutal battle with COVID-19: 'I lost like 8 pounds'
Tyler Lockett is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, but his bout with it earlier this month was harrowing.
Lockett, who spoke out on Thursday for the first time since he tested positive for the coronavirus on Dec. 16, said he was miserable.
“My throat was hurting. I had chills. My chest was hurting,” he said Thursday, via The Seattle Times. “I was very, very anxious. Like, my mind was just wandering ‘cause I was probably thinking too much. I was throwing up … and I just had no energy. I was barely eating. I think I lost like 8 pounds. … I don’t want to say I had breathing problems but, like, I couldn’t fully breathe out of my chest like I wanted to.”
Lockett landed on the Seahawks’ reserve/COVID-19 list just days after Seattle’s win over the Houston Texans on Dec. 12. He missed their 20-10 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 21, and then returned in time for last week’s loss to the Chicago Bears.
Having to miss that game against the Rams, he said, was tough both from a football standpoint and simply a health standpoint — as he was “just trying to make it through this.”
“People see COVID as just whatever, until you actually get it or you go through it or other people in your family go through it, and you see how detrimental it is,” he said, via The Seattle Times. “And you see how people do die from this stuff. That’s why I said for me, it’s unfortunate that I couldn’t play, but I’m also thankful that I’m able to still be here and still enjoy my life.”
Lockett is one of 12 Seahawks to land on the reserve/COVID-19 list in recent weeks. Even with the missed game, and Seattle’s struggles this year, Lockett has 1,053 receiving yards and five touchdowns on 65 receptions. With his third consecutive 1,000-yard season already locked down, the 29-year-old is just five receiving yards short of setting a new career-high.
The Seahawks are set to host the Detroit Lions on Sunday, where they’re listed as 7-point favorites on BetMGM. At 5-10 and in last place in the NFC West, Seattle has already been eliminated from the postseason.
Though his season is almost over, Lockett said he has a newfound appreciation for his near-career season after coming down with the coronavirus.
“Once you come down with COVID, you start realizing none of this stuff matters because you really just want to beat it and move past it,” he said, via The Seattle Times. “And I think sometimes it makes you take a step back, because we get so caught up in all these accomplishments and all these things that we care about and we don’t even realize that without our health, none of it even matters. I think being able to come back, you want to have a different perception and a different viewpoint of how you see things, but now I’m just thinking for each day that I get it, and how can I make the best out of it.
“And the fact that I do have a chance to be able to have the most yards that I’ve ever had in my career history, that’s even a blessing on its own. And that’s something that if it does happen that I will be thankful for.”
