Russell Wilson concedes he wasn’t 100% when he returned to Seahawks from surgery
Four games in six starts and the meaningful part of this Seahawks season lost, Russell Wilson acknowledges he wasn’t at full health when he returned last month from surgery.
Thursday, Wilson said for the first time his repaired finger on his right hand wasn’t “fine” like he said it was in his first games back.
For that, the Seahawks captain is also Captain Obvious.
“Going into Green Bay, you know, obviously it’s a tough environment. It was a battle to the fourth quarter. Score was three to nothing,” Seattle’s quarterback said of his first game back Nov. 14 against the Packers, a return in about half the time his doctor told him he might miss from surgery on the middle finger of his throwing hand.
“Not everything was perfect, on either side. We are trying to make things happen,” Wilson said of Seattle’s 17-0 defeat to the Packers, his first career shutout loss. “Mentally, completely engaged, and physically, too.
“Like I’ve told you guys: I’ve played dinged up before. I’ve played with injuries and things, and not everything goes perfect. I think that’s what you have to do along the way.
“Was I 100%? Definitely not. But, at the same time, I think you go out there and learn as much as you can learn and play as hard as you can to help us win, and unfortunately it didn’t go our way.”
Obviously.
Wilson’s subpar play since his return has been a huge departure from his first nine, wondrous seasons leading the Seahawks to the playoffs eight times and their only Super Bowl win.
It’s also been a huge reason why the Seahawks are 5-9 entering Sunday’s game against Chicago (4-10). Seattle is assured of its first losing season since 2011, its last season before the team drafted Wilson.
When the most important player at the most important position in the sport plays as Wilson has played since his surgery, the team ends up where the Seahawks are this Christmas.
His throws wobbled and drifted aimlessly through the end of November into December. He had passes intercepted in the end zone in four consecutive games. That’s more such turnovers than he’s had in most entire seasons. The career 65% passer has been under 55% in completion rate three times in his six return games.
His and the Seahawks’ latest loss at Los Angeles doomed their flickering hopes for another postseason.
A key reason they lost: Wilson far underthrew DK Metcalf after the wide receiver had sped 5 yards past Rams All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey on a double move in the fourth quarter of a tie game. An even fair-quality throw would have sent the free Metcalf off for the go-ahead touchdown with 8 minutes left Tuesday. Instead, Wilson underthrew the ball so badly Ramsey ran back into the play and knocked the ball away from Metcalf.
The Seahawks didn’t score. The Rams did. They clinched their 11th win in 15 games against Seattle.
It was, given the stakes with a season on the line, one of the worst passes of Wilson’s career.
“I wish I could have that one back,” Wilson said.
That pass? Or this season, at least the part since his return?
Struggling upon return
The last three games, the zip has returned to his throws. But some of his decisions have also been uncharacteristic.
Physically, when did he truly begin feeling normal?
“I would say, really felt good, I would say, that sixth week coming back,” Wilson said.
He had surgery Oct. 8. Six weeks post-surgery was after Nov. 19. Wilson and the Seahawks played Arizona Nov. 21.
That day at Lumen Field Wilson looked like he did the previous Sunday at Green Bay: like he came back too early. He completed 14 of 26 often-errant passes for 206 yards while getting sacked four times and hit six times. It is the first time since Oct. 2016 Wilson had failed to throw a touchdown pass in consecutive games.
Seattle lost 23-13 to a Cardinals team that was without Kyler Murray and had journeyman backup Colt McCoy starting instead.
“Over the past several games, the ball is coming out of my hands great,” Wilson said. “I feel really good, and I’m really confident.”
The following week after the Arizona game, he had five consecutive three-and-out drives from the middle of the second quarter to the end of far game at sub-.500 Washington.
Wilson clicked in the final 2 minutes with a hurry-up drive 96 yards to a touchdown. But he held the ball too long on the subsequent two-point conversion attempt to tie the game. He missed Metcalf running open to the right of the end zone. He missed Freddie Swain open earlier behind Metcalf across the middle. He threw late to Swain and had the pass interception in the middle of the end zone to finish Seattle’s 17-15 loss.
On Dec. 5 against San Francisco Wilson looked more like his first nine seasons leading the Seahawks while making six Pro Bowls. He completed 30 of 37 passes. He would have had four touchdown passes against no interceptions if tight end Gerald Everett hadn’t dropped and kicked Wilson’s pass at the goal line into an odd 49ers interception plus lost a fumble on a shovel pass on his way to the goal line later in the Seahawks’ 30-23 win.
At Houston the following week Wilson had a brilliant pass for a 55-yard touchdown to Tyler Lockett. That, two more exquisite catches and toe drags at the sideline by Lockett and a career rushing day by Rashaad Penny were plenty to push the Seahawks easily past the bad Texans.
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Then came Tuesday against the far-better Rams.
Unclutch in the clutch
At Los Angeles Wilson overthrew Metcalf on an easy, open slant route on a third down. Late in the second quarter Tuesday Wilson sent a pass near the goal line toward Metcalf wide of the hulking receiver and the sideline boundary by 5 yards. Metcalf stomped to the sideline after that drive-ending play.
On the tying touchdown that wasn’t in the fourth quarter, Metcalf beat his shadow Ramsey. Decisively. Metcalf ran a double move: a stop route near the line to gain on third and 6, then a go route straight down the left sideline. Ramsey was beaten as soundly as Metcalf has beaten him in their three seasons as NFC West rivals.
But Wilson’s throw made Metcalf slow down and almost stop. That allowed the frantic Ramsey to race back into the play and knock the ball away for his second third-down pass defensed against Metcalf Tuesday.
“I was trying to get it out of my hand,” Wilson said. “He was kind of making a double move there, and I was trying to get it out of my hand before I got hit. Just trying to put some air under it, let him go get it. Sometimes those double moves are always tricky, because you don’t know when they are going to come out of it.
“I wish we could have had that one back. That was the one I wish we could have back.”
Wilson rarely has had to say that in his career — particularly in the clutch.
He has 35 game-winning drives in the fourth quarter. That’s the most in NFL history.
Wilson finished 17 for 31 passing for 156 yards and a final-seconds interception into the end zone, throwing a no-chance ball to Metcalf in garbage time.
Renowned for his accurate deep passing, Wilson completed just one of nine throws of more than 10 yards down the field. This is the first season Wilson will finish with a losing record since his sophomore year at North Carolina State. That was 2009.
Carroll says Wilson has been having to deal with missing the first three games of his career and being away for a month.
The coach and the Seahawks left Wilson’s return up to Wilson. Carroll and the team believed Wilson earned that discretion after becoming the winningest quarterback in the first nine seasons of an NFL career.
The team paid for that decision. But what was their choice?
Carroll wasn’t about to bench his $140 million franchise cornerstone once Wilson declared he was ready to practice again four weeks post-surgery, to just have him watch backup Geno Smith keep playing while Wilson was back on the active roster. That wouldn’t have exactly kept the relationship between Wilson and Carroll the best it’s ever been, which is what the coach has said during this season.
The Seahawks were committed to sink or swim with Wilson whenever he wanted to return, even at what obviously was less than 100%.
They’ve sunk.
Now an ankle
The other thing Wilson came out of the Rams game with, beyond a loss: a sore ankle.
“I got smashed up a little bit on one of the sacks, a guy landed on it pretty good,” Wilson said Thursday. “I’m feeling good, trying to get better every day with it, and I’m working 24/7 around the clock with it.”
Wilson and coach Pete Carroll said Wilson will start Sunday against the Bears.
“It’s a short week so it could be a factor, but it won’t keep Russ from playing,” Carroll said. “I don’t think that’s the case at all. He should be all right.”
Wilson said he felt fine in practice Thursday.
“Obviously, this is a short week with the game being moved to Tuesday, so I’m getting after it,” he said.
“My mind is not wavering, everyone wants to talk about this or that, but I’m not going to let it waver my mind, mindset, and what I know I’m going to do, how I’m going to do it, and how I can go about my business.”
This story was originally published December 24, 2021 at 10:36 AM.
