SEATTLE -- The Seahawks activated Abraham Lucas off the physically unable to perform list on Wednesday, putting the third-year right tackle one step closer to making his long-awaited return from offseason knee surgery.

Seattle placed right tackle George Fant on injured reserve to make room on the 53-man roster.

The Seahawks had to activate Lucas by Wednesday, as that marked the end of the 21-day practice window that began when he was designated to return on Oct. 23. If Lucas hadn't been activated by Wednesday, he would have had to remain on the PUP list the rest of the year.

The move does not guarantee that Lucas will be ready to make his season debut Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, but coach Mike Macdonald sounded optimistic Monday that he would, calling it "a realistic expectation at this point."

During his first two weeks of practice before the bye, Lucas was listed as limited five times and a non-participant once. The Seahawks weren't required to release a practice report Monday, but Macdonald said Lucas looked "really good."

Lucas was limited again in practice Wednesday, while wide receiver DK Metcalf, who is hoping to return after missing two games before Seattle's bye with an MCL sprain, was a full participant.

Lucas' impending return is a positive development in the Seahawks' season-long saga at right tackle.

They signed the 32-year-old Fant in free agency as veteran insurance for Lucas, who had surgery on his right knee after missing 11 games last season. But Fant landed on IR after hurting his knee 13 snaps into the season opener. He returned in Week 9 only to re-injure the same knee on the 17th snap, resulting in a return to IR that will force him to miss at least four more games.

Stone Forsythe started five games at right tackle before suffering a hand injury in Week 6 than landed him on IR. That left the Seahawks down to their fourth option at the position in rookie Michael Jerrell. The sixth-round pick from Division II Findlay started two games then took over again at right tackle in Week 9 after Fant reinjured his knee.

With their revolving door at right tackle and pronounced issues at right guard, the Seahawks rank 27th in pass block win rate (53.4%). They've allowed 28 sacks, which is tied for fourth-most among teams that have only played nine games.

As a rookie third-round pick in 2022, Lucas ranked 17th among all tackles in pass block win rate.

"The best version of Abe is going to give us the best version of our offensive line," Macdonald said Monday. "So, we want to make sure that he's ready to go, but from what I saw today, he looked really good. He looked good last week. There's a timeline here that we're kind of abiding by, and there's certain milestones and hurdles you need to cross in order for him to play his best ball, so hopefully that's this week."