BRADY HENDERSON

Seahawks’ Russell Wilson: ‘No doubt’ he’ll play vs. Jets despite sprained knee

Sep 29, 2016, 1:36 PM | Updated: 5:04 pm

RENTON – The Seahawks have given one indication after another this week that quarterback Russell Wilson will play against the Jets despite his knee injury. The latest and perhaps strongest came Thursday from Wilson himself.

“No doubt,” Wilson said when asked if there’s any question in his mind about his status for Sunday’s game. “No doubt.”

The Seahawks listed Wilson as a full participant in practice Wednesday and Thursday. He’s been wearing a brace to stabilize his left knee, which sustained an MCL sprain when he was taken down with a horse-collar tackle last week against San Francisco. But Wilson was quick to say that he’s been able to do everything he normally does in practice.

“I feel great,” Wilson said before Thursday’s practice. “I feel great, feel strong. Obviously practiced yesterday, practiced the full practice and everything like that. I’m excited about this week.”

Asked about what his treatment program has entailed this week, Wilson joked that it would take hours to detail it all. As was the case after he sprained his ankle in Seattle’s opener, it’s been a group effort between the Seahawks’ training staff and Wilson’s team, which includes his physical therapist, Drew Morcos. He again flew up from California to help Wilson get ready.

“Just tons of ice, treating it all the time, moving, getting on the bike,” Wilson said, adding that there’s a stationary bicycle set up in the quarterbacks’ room at the Seahawks’ facility. “Just on that all the time. Just stretching a bunch. The reality of it is the first 48, 72 hours is really important. Just treating it as much as I can then and trying to let it heal. Tons of prayer, and also just a lot of treatment.

Another part of it, Wilson said, is his mindset.

“How much you want to get on it, how much pain tolerance you can have and how much you can take,” he said. “How much you can ignore the outside noise and just kind of know what you can take and what you can do. I think a lot of it, too, is getting out and practicing, pushing a little bit and seeing how much I can do, what I can do well. I feel really strong, I feel great out there, so I’m excited.”

Asked about how much he’s had to politic coach Pete Carroll about letting him play, Wilson said he hasn’t. But he acknowledged how much being available means to him. He’s never missed a game or an in-season practice since entering the NFL in 2012, and before he went down in the third quarter against San Francisco, he hadn’t missed so much as a single snap due to an injury.

In Wilson’s mind, “there’s no such thing as a day off.”

“I love the game of football,” he said. “I don’t want to miss a day. Whether it’s a game or practice, I don’t want to miss a day ever. I think that’s kind of my mentality and I have to do whatever it takes.”

The Seahawks know that mentality is something that could get Wilson in trouble. He went back into Sunday’s game on his own after injuring his knee and missing only one play, something Carroll admitted he wasn’t OK with. Aware of the perceptions that Seattle could be putting Wilson in harm’s way by allowing him to play on a sprained knee in addition to his sprained ankle, Carroll said Wednesday that he handles injury matters as though the players were his own children.

When asked about the risk that he may be taking by continuing to play, Wilson said he doesn’t think about risk and that it’s an inherent part of football. But he also acknowledged the need to be smart with injuries, especially those as serious as the one he’s dealing with.

As for the brace he’s been wearing, Wilson downplayed any impact it will have on him. He said he wore one for a time in college at North Carolina State.

“I’ve been able to do it and it’s not going to be a hindrance, really,” he said. “I don’t mind wearing one, I’m wearing one right now.”

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