Surgeon confident Seahawks QB Russell Wilson can return this season

Nate Burleson joins Faizal Khamisa to discuss the latest news around the NFL, including the quarterback situation in Seattle and the opportunity Geno Smith has in front of him.

RENTON, Wash. (AP) — Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is expected to be out several weeks after he had surgery Friday on his injured right middle finger.

Wilson posted a photo Friday night following his surgery in Southern California. Wilson flew to Los Angeles to see a hand specialist and determine the best course of action to repair the injury.

The Seahawks released a statement with a quote from Dr. Steven Shin on Friday night.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said earlier in the day that the team was awaiting word from the specialist on whether Wilson had a chance of returning quickly.

“I want him to go to the specialist and make sure he tells us,” Carroll said. “But there’s something going on. There’s definitely something going on and we’ve got to figure out what the extent of it is and what is the next step to deal with it.”

Wilson was injured during Thursday night’s 26-17 loss to the Rams when his fingers hit the arm of defensive tackle Aaron Donald on the follow through of a pass attempt. Wilson tried to play one more series and threw one more pass before giving way to Geno Smith in the fourth quarter.

Carroll said Wilson simply didn’t have the strength in the finger to control the ball as needed to throw.

“Nobody should question his toughness. Nobody should question his resolve to get in the game,” Carroll said. “He’d have gone in if he could have thrown the football and held on to it, he would have done it.”

Wilson has not missed a game in his career, starting all 149 in the regular season and 16 playoff games since being drafted by the Seahawks in 2012. He’s only missed a handful of plays during that time.

Wilson had the longest active streak of starts by a quarterback.

Until now, the closest Wilson ever came to missing a game was 2016 when he suffered an ankle injury in the season opener and a sprained MCL in his knee in Week 3. In the first game after injuring his knee, he threw for 309 yards and three touchdowns in a win over the New York Jets.

Carroll said Wilson was up most of the night figuring out plans for getting his finger examined and the next steps in the process.

“This is Russ at his finest in terms of competitiveness,” Carroll said. “I mean he’s doing everything possible to be ready to take advantage of whatever is available to him.”

With Wilson out, the Seahawks season may rest in the hands of Smith. He looked great in the fourth against the Rams as Seattle tried to rally from down two scores. Smith led Seattle on two scoring drives, but threw an interception with about 2 minutes remaining after Tyler Lockett stumbled.

Smith last started a game in 2017 with the New York Giants on the day Eli Manning’s streak of consecutive starts came to an end. He started one game in 2016 with the Jets, but the last time he saw any sort of extended action was 2014, his second season in the league.

Seattle is entering a manageable stretch of the schedule at Pittsburgh next weekend, followed by home games against New Orleans and Jacksonville and the bye week.

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