Russell Wilson practices, 1st time since surgery. Seahawks expect he’ll start at Packers
Russell Wilson was back to where he’d been for 10 years.
First in line at practice. First to go through calisthenics. First to go through the offense’s daily bag drill.
And — for the first time in one month and one day since he ruined his finger on his throwing hand — the first to throw passes.
“It’s really exciting to see. ... It’s remarkable,” coach Pete Carroll said after the Seahawks’ $140 million franchise quarterback came off injured reserve Monday and practiced for the first time since he had surgery to repair a torn tendon and dislocation in the middle finger of his right hand.
Initial estimates for his injury and surgery said Wilson could miss up to eight weeks.
He missed four: three games plus Seattle’s bye week.
“It’s Time,” Wilson posted on his Twitter account Monday morning.
His Los Angeles-based surgeon, Dr. Steve Shin, said while clearing him to return to play Monday morning he was “absolutely amazed” at Wilson’s accelerated recovery and commitment to post-operative therapy to get back in the minimal time a player on NFL injured reserve must miss, three games.
“I just think it’s important,” Carroll said. “A lot of hard times, a lot of people working through a lot of hard stuff. This is a really cool story.
“I’m amazed, yet not surprised.
“Knowing Russ, this was the week if he could pull off something miraculous this was the week he could play.”
Wilson threw at the start of Monday’s practice to veteran receiver Phillip Dorsett, mostly short and medium passes and one, underthrown long one.
It was six days the Seahawks (3-5) play the Packers (7-2) in Green Bay.
Wilson and the Seahawks expect he will start Sunday at Lambeau Field, where the forecast is for temperatures in the 30s and a slight chance of light snow showers.
“The intention is, if he’s OK he plays. I don’t have any hesitation,” Carroll said.
“He did fine today, got off the practice field feeling great.”
Wilson did not wear a glove on his right hand. He did not appear to be wearing any wrap or protection.
Carroll said the Seahawks plus Wilson’s self-described “performance team” are exploring any and all protective options for the finger or hand that Wilson might wear in Sunday’s game.
“If you can imagine, Russ is after it, talking about as many alternatives as we can come up with,” Carroll said. “And he’s exploring all kinds of thoughts.
“But he doesn’t need anything right ... really. He was fine today. But, maybe we will gain more information as we go through the week.
“Everything we could possibly think of we are working on.”
The Seahawks’ bye was this past Sunday. Carroll said had the Seahawks played this past weekend Wilson would have intended to play in that game.
Carroll then interrupted a final question of his post-practice media session to emphasize the magnitude of the accomplishment Wilson just made returning to practice exactly one month after an extensive surgery on his throwing hand.
“I just feel like saying: What we just watched Russ do ... to see somebody who so clearly took control of his rehab and his process and his mentality of it, this is really exciting to see,” Carroll said. “And there are a lot of people who are sick and hurt and coming back from stuff and all of that, and it’s always nice to know a story of somebody just overcame the odds and pulled it off — and was so clearly intended to do all of this.”
Carroll chuckled. For his coach of the last 10 years, it was a knowing laugh.
“I just think it’s remarkable.”
This story was originally published November 8, 2021 at 5:10 PM.
