He’s back: ‘Amazed’ doctor clears Russell Wilson to play Sunday for Seahawks at Green Bay
Russell Wilson is back.
His “absolutely amazed” doctor posted a statement through the Seahawks Monday morning clearing the team’s franchise quarterback from finger surgery Oct. 8 to play Sunday when Seattle plays at Green Bay.
“Although this was unchartered territory (I have never in my career see such a severe injury to the throwing hand of an NFL quarterback), I have also never encountered a player so committed to his postoperative therapy and with so much conviction to return to the same, if not better, level of performance as he had pre-injury,” Dr. Steve Shin, Wilson’s Los Angeles-based surgeon, said in his statement the Seahawks issued exactly one month after Wilson had surgery.
“I am absolutely amazed at his progress, so much so that I can now confidently clear him for full return to play without reservation.”
That puts Wilson back running Seattle’s offense as he’s been doing for 10 years, Sunday when the Seahawks (3-5) play the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.
Wilson posted a video of his recovery, of Lambeau Field, and the words “It’s Time” on his social-media pages Monday morning.
Green Bay is hoping to get NFL most valuable player Aaron Rodgers back from a 10-day quarantine and positive test for COVID-19 in time to play against Wilson and the Seahawks. Rodgers could rejoin the Packers from quarantine on Saturday, the day before the Seattle game.
Later Monday, the Seahawks announced they have designated Wilson, rookie wide receiver Dee Eskridge and cornerback Niguel Warrior to return from injured reserve to practice this week.
Eskridge, Seattle’s top draft choice this spring, hasn’t played since he got a concussion on his second of two fly-sweep runs in the team’s opening game Sept. 12 at Indianapolis.
Wilson missed three games with a torn tendon and dislocation of the middle finger on his right hand. He got that banging it into the arm of Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald in the third quarter of Seattle’s home loss to Los Angeles on Oct. 7.
So ended Wilson’s streak of 165 consecutive games played to begin his career, dating to his first game as a rookie in 2012. It was the sixth-longest streak in league history.
Geno Smith lost his first two starts for Wilson then beat Jacksonville in the Seahawks’ last game before their bye this past weekend.
Wilson surprised coach Pete Carroll and the Seahawks Nov. 1 when he got the surgical pin that had been stabilizing the finger removed before the team expected.
“No more pin. Time to win,” Wilson posted on Twitter one week ago. That was 24 days post-surgery.
A day later, Nov. 2, Wilson posted video of him throwing passes to his “performance team” while wearing a glove. That also surprised Carroll and the Seahawks. The coach said the team had been told Wilson would need “a couple days” of healing after the pin came out of the finger before he could begin throwing a football.
“There’s a pretty clear-cut time frame. They think that it’s going to take a couple days after that (pin) is removed, and then it’s just how he can progress,” Carroll said Nov. 1, before Wilson announced the pin was out. “It will be the first time he can bend his finger, you know. So we’ve got to see how that works out.”
The fact Wilson was throwing still 12 days before the Seahawks’ next game strongly suggested he would be able to play at Green Bay.
The Green Bay game Sunday is the first game Wilson is eligible to come off injured reserve. Per NFL rules, players on IR must miss a minimum of three games. Wilson’s third missed game was Seattle’s 31-7 win over Jacksonville Oct. 31, when Smith made his third consecutive fill-in start.
For all three games Wilson came out early for pregame warm-ups. He pantomimed plays, hand-offs and drop backs to pass. He did everything but throw a ball.
Before Seattle’s last game he was wearing what appeared to be a new, black wrap on his hand, over both his repaired middle finger and the index finger on his right hand.
During practices in recent weeks Wilson was jogging on the side and cutting on the turf while Smith led the Seahawks offense into practices on the other end of the team’s indoor practice field.
“Russ has been doing everything he can do as far as making sure that his hand strength is there, and all of that,” Carroll said.
Now, he’s back — in time to U-turn the Seahawks’ shaky season.
Despite their 3-5 start, the Seahawks are one game out of a playoff spot in the NFC. The conference has only six teams with winning records through the first nine weeks of the season.
This story was originally published November 8, 2021 at 11:02 AM.
