Seahawks’ Sherman to have Tommy John surgery on left elbow

Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll confirmed Monday that cornerback Richard Sherman’s left elbow will require Tommy John surgery and cornerback Jeremy Lane has a “significant” broken arm.

ESPN’s John Clayton reported early Monday morning after the Super Bowl that Sherman could be headed for Tommy John surgery on his elbow.

“From what I understand that is accurate,” Carroll said of Sherman. “His will to play through this never wavered.”

Sherman tore ligaments in the elbow during the Seahawks’ win over the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game. He finished that game in pain, seemingly playing with his left arm unavailable, then made it all the way through the Super Bowl on Sunday.

Sherman recorded four interceptions and eight passes defensed during the regular season, with opposing teams rarely targeting the receiver he covered. He added an interception in each of the Seahawks’ two playoff wins, against the Carolina Panthers and the Packers.

In Seattle’s 28-24 Super Bowl loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday night, Sherman was credited with three tackles and was thrown at just once, for a 6-yard gain.

Normal recovery time for a baseball pitcher undergoing Tommy John surgery is nine to 12 months, but Carroll doesn’t see that happening for Sherman.

“I really don’t think so as long as Sherm doesn’t want to become a late-inning reliever,” Carroll said. “There’s plenty of time to work all that out and I don’t think there’s any concern.”

Seahawks nickelback Lane came up with the biggest play of the first quarter when he intercepted Tom Brady’s pass in the end zone. The Patriots had a third-and-6 at the Seattle 10 when Brady threw over the middle, trying to connect with wide receiver Julian Edelman at the back if the end zone.

After breaking one tackle on the interception return, the middle of Lane’s left forearm appeared to bend abruptly when he was tackled. His arm was wrapped and Lane was taken to the locker room.

“He’s going to have surgery,” Carroll said of Lane. “He had a real difficult break. They have to wait a couple of days to make sure it’s all prepared properly and all of that. He’ll be OK, but it’s going to be a significant surgery.”

Carroll also said safeties Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor may need to have surgery this offseason.

Thomas played the entire game Sunday, two weeks after suffering a separated shoulder in the NFC Championship Game.

Chancellor had been playing through ankle and hip problems all season and suffered a knee injury in practice two days before the Super Bowl. Carroll said Chancellor’s knee injury may be more serious than first thought.

“For Kam Chancellor to play (in the Super Bowl), it’s super-human stuff,” Carroll said. “He shouldn’t have been able to go. He may have had an earlier injury from years past and maybe some of the damage was from before. He got really banged hard on it.

“All three of those guys (Sherman, Thomas and Chancellor) might end up getting fixed up here, but they wanted to play for their teammates. It was courageous. It was an extraordinary effort from guys who played through unbelievable issues.”