Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson underwent surgery on his injured middle finger on Friday, an injury that occurred in Thursday night's game against the Rams.
The surgery repaired two injuries in Wilson's finger, and while no specific timeline was given for his return, Wilson is expected back this season.
The surgery was performed by Dr. Steven Shin, a Los Angeles-based orthopedic surgeon who specializes in hand surgery, and who has previously operated on athletes such as Drew Brees, Mike Trout and Stephen Curry.
In a statement, Dr. Shin said, "Russell Wilson injured his right middle finger during last night's game versus the Rams. He sustained two injuries to the finger: an extensor tendon rupture (mallet finger) and a comminuted fracture-dislocation of the proximal interphalangeal joint. He had successful surgery today in Los Angeles by hand specialist Dr. Steven Shin at the Cedars-Sinai Kerlan Jobe Surgery Center to repair both injuries. He will start therapy this weekend and it is highly anticipated that he will return to play later this season."
Shin added, "Based on what I saw today, I am fully confident Russell will return to the NFL this season and play at the same world-class level that fans have come to expect of one of the game's very best quarterbacks."
The surgery means Wilson will miss a game for the first time in his 10-year career. Since becoming the Seahawks' starter heading into his rookie season, Wilson has started all 149 regular-season games and all 16 playoff games Seattle has played dating back to 2012, and before Thursday night he had never left a game due to injury and been unable to return.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said earlier in the day that he fully expects Wilson to make it back from this injury as fast as anyone possibly could.
"This is Russ at his finest in terms of competitiveness," Carroll said. "He's doing everything possible to be ready to take advantage of whatever is available to him. He's tuned in and focused, he was up all night working it, he's already flying to go see the docs. Everything has been done as fast and as efficiently as possible. It's looking ahead, we're already looking at getting right and coming back, that's how we're talking about it, and I know that he'll maximize whatever the timeframe is. He's going to do a fantastic job of doing whatever he's up against."
With Wilson out for the time being, Geno Smith will take over the starting role, and while no team wants to lose a Hall of Fame-caliber quarterback, the Seahawks are confident in what Smith will bring to the offense. Smith, who was a starter early in his career and has been Seattle's backup since 2019, played well in is first significant playing time with Seattle, leading two scoring drives in the fourth quarter to keep Seattle in the game, including a 98-yard touchdown drive immediately after coming into the game on which he was 7 for 7 for 72 yards and a 23-yard touchdown pass to DK Metcalf. Next week's game at Pittsburgh will be Smith's first start since he started one game for the New York Giants in 2017.
"I thought Geno did a marvelous job last night," Carroll said. "Geno has been practicing with us for all this time waiting for his opportunity if called upon, and the patience that he's shown with us to stay with it, and his relationship with Russ and the coaches, he's been impeccable, and then when he went out, he executed like he can. He's a very talented football player, he's got a great arm, he's got great sense, and he knows the system really well. I totally trust that Geno can do this, and I think you saw it last night in a really difficult situation—hurry up, all that kind of stuff, he was really good at it. He really understands the system, so we'll be able to stay with the preparation and that'll help everybody. Geno makes guys around him feel confident and feel comfortable, and I thought that was a great showing."
