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.”
