Russell Wilson Injury Update: Seahawks QB To See Specialist For Finger

SEATTLE, Wash. – Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is wasting no time getting to the bottom of the finger injury that kept him from finishing a game for the first in his NFL career on Thursday night.

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Friday morning on 710 ESPN Seattle’s Pete Carroll Show, the Seahawks head coach provided an update on Wilson’s status, saying that his franchise quarterback was on his way to see a specialist.

“He’s getting after it this morning. He’s already traveling to get looked at by a specialist to make sure that we know exactly what we need to know and so the decisions can be really clear,” Carroll told 710 ESPN Seattle’s Mike Salk. “We’ve talked a half-dozen times since the game was over already and I’ll be there on the phone with him when he’s getting the opinion from the docs and all that. We don’t know enough yet.”

That specialist, according to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, is Dr. Steven Shin in Los Angeles.

#Seahawks QB Russell Wilson will have an MRI on his finger today, sources say, and then seek a consultation with hand specialist Dr. Steven Shin of Kerlan-Jobe in LA. The initial belief is he has mallet finger, essentially a sprained joint that makes it hard to flex a finger.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 8, 2021

Rapoport added that the “initial belief” is Wilson has a mallet finger injury to the middle finger on his right (throwing) hand. Carroll confirmed that “it could be that.”

“They gotta make sure and check that stuff out and declare that officially from the specialist,” Carroll said. “He has not seen the doc yet that he’s going to see that’s going to determine really the significance of this.”

Wilson suffered the injury in the third quarter of Seattle’s 26-17 loss to the Rams when his middle finger collided with the hand of All-Pro Los Angeles defensive tackle Aaron Donald after he attempted a pass. Though Wilson played one more series, he was replaced for the Seahawks’ final three drives at quarterback by Geno Smith.

Carroll said that if Wilson “could have thrown the ball last night” after suffering the injury “he would have,” and that Wilson coming out of the game was about “function” and not a result of pain.

“The last flick comes off those two fingers right there and then that’s where the control comes from. And also the zip.”

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Wilson has played through injury before, most notably a sprained MCL he suffered early in the 2016 season, but this injury puts him at serious risk of missing a game for the first time not just with the Seahawks but ever, according to Carroll.

“What you should know is that I don’t think Russ slept a minute last night in his efforts to try and get all the information that he could, get set up for today so we that we could get things underway and all of that,” Carroll said. “He’ll do everything you can possibly do and he’ll maximize the opportunity to get back as soon as possible because that’s just what he’s always done. Russell’s never missed a football game in his life – peewee football, Pop Warner, whatever you want to call it, little league all the way through high school and college and the NFL for 10 years, he’s not missed a game. So this is a crushing development for him to have to deal with because he’s just never been there before. He is attacking it full-on.”

The good news for Wilson and the Seahawks is that other than going into a bye week, they are afforded just about the most possible time between games while they get to the bottom of the injury. Seattle next plays on Oct. 17 in a Sunday night game in Pittsburgh.

Listen to the podcast of the full edition of Friday’s Pete Carroll Show at this link or in the player below.