A suturing instrument (10) for placing mattress stitches in soft tissue, such as a rotator cuff, includes an elongate shaft with both a stationary jaw (14) and a movable jaw (34) disposed at the distal end thereof. The shaft is coupled to a handle grip at the proximal end, which configured to manipulate the jaws into open and closed positions. The jaws are configured to allow for atraumatic grasping of soft tissues (38). The stationary jaw may include a molded tip that holds and positions opposite ends of a single strand of suture material (30). The serrated (36) upper jaw is configured to grasp and immobilize the tissue to be sutured. Hooked needles (20a, 20b) are movably positioned to pierce the grasped and immobilized tissues, and to engage and retrieve the opposite ends of the single strand of suture material (30). The handle is released to open the moveable jaw, whereupon the instrument may be withdrawn, trailing the suture, and leaving a mattress stitch in the grasped tissue.
