Russell Wilson in Seahawks practice one-handed. Geno Smith both-hands ready for Steelers
Russell Wilson looked like he always does, every Seahawks practice day.
Instead of the team coat and sweats he wore Monday, he was wearing his usual red, no-contact quarterback jersey with “Wilson 3” on it.
He was at the front of the warm-up line to begin practice, jogging and stretching and shuffling.
He was the first offensive player through the daily bag drill, teammates dutifully following their captain through the routine that begins every Seattle practice.
But Wednesday was the first time in his 10 NFL years Wilson did all that one-handed. He did it while tucking his surgically repaired middle finger on his throwing hand into the warming pocket belted to the front of his practice uniform.
The symbolism to his teammates was clear: I’m still here. And I don’t intend to be out long.
Geno Smith used both hands throughout Wednesday’s practice. He will make his first NFL start since Dec. 3, 2017, Sunday night at Pittsburgh.
That’s when Wilson’s streak of 165 consecutive regular-season and playoff games to begin his career will end, because of the injury he got hitting the arm of Rams All-World defensive lineman Aaron Donald on the follow-through of a pass in the second half of Seattle’s home loss to Los Angeles Thursday.
He flew to L.A. the next morning and had surgery the next day.
“It’s definitely foreign territory,” said All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner, who missed practice Wednesday to rest his sore knee. “You’ve never gone out to a practice and not seen ‘3’ warming up doing his extra stuff.
“We understand the task at hand. We understand there’s a lot of people who are counting us out, a lot of people that believe we can’t do it. We’ve proved people wrong in the past before, and I don’t see why the future doesn’t turn out the exact same way.”
Because he’s not on injured reserve, not yet, anyway, Wilson for now could possibly return within three weeks, roster eligibility-wise. Players on IR must miss a minimum of three weeks before returning, per league rules.
Coach Pete Carroll is not sharing the team’s estimate on when Wilson may be back from a surgery, a torn tendon and dislocated finger that has an estimated recovery time of up to six weeks.
Because Wilson is still on the active roster, he must per NFL rules be listed on the daily practice report if he is injured or limited in any way Wednesday through Friday of a Sunday-game week.
The Seahawks listed Wilson as not participating in practice, meaning Smith got the first-team reps. Practice-squad quarterbacks Jake Luton and Danny Etling, signed back to the team earlier Wednesday, are Smith’s backups with Wilson out.
Asked earlier Wednesday about the possibility of placing Wilson on injured reserve, Carroll said: “We don’t have to do that yet, so we are going to use all of the days that we need to make a good choice there.”
This story was originally published October 13, 2021 at 3:54 PM.
