Seahawks Injury Updates: Russell Wilson ‘really close,’ Chris Carson aims to play vs GB

The Seahawks have been without their two stars in the backfield for a few weeks now, but with the bye week here, it appears those two are nearing their return to action.

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The two players are, of course, quarterback Russell Wilson and running back Chris Carson. Wilson was knocked out of a Week 5 loss to the Los Angeles Rams with a middle finger injury on his throwing hand while Carson hasn’t played since Week 3 due to a neck injury.

During the weekly Pete Carroll Show on 710 ESPN Seattle, head coach Pete Carroll told Mike Salk on Monday morning that those two are each aiming to play when the Seahawks return to action against the Green Bay Packers in Week 10.

Russell Wilson

With Wilson out of action, the Seahawks are 1-2 in Geno Smith’s starts, and they also lost the game that Wilson was knocked out of.

Wilson, who underwent surgery on Oct. 8, appears to be on track to return in Week 10 in Green Bay with the Seahawks at 3-5.

“His finger does look great,” Carroll said Monday morning. “He couldn’t wait to take off his (bandaging) and show me how it looked the other night.”

Early reports had Wilson’s injury being a 6-8 week ordeal, but later reports said he may be able to return in four weeks. Wilson is eligible to come off injured reserve before Seattle’s next game on Nov. 14 against the Packers as it will have been four weeks since he was placed on the list (the minimum stay is three weeks).

“We’ll hold out hope that he’s going to continue to bring this thing back and break the records of all-time (in) how (fast you can recover) from this,” Carroll said. “If anybody can do it, Russell can do it.”

Carroll said Wilson still needs to “get all of the contraptions out of his finger first and then he’s got to heal from that extraction” before the next step, which is seeing what how comfortably he can hold and throw a football.

“He’s going to be really close,” Carroll said of Wilson’s chances to return for the Seahawks in Week 10.

Carroll also said that Wilson doesn’t need “all of what it was for him to be effective” in terms of his hand and finger being back to 100%.

“He’ll be able to adapt, but we just need to see if it’s safe for him to do that and in the long-term basis, is it the right thing to do?” Carroll said. “We’ll figure it out.”

Chris Carson

Carson has been dealing with a neck injury for a while now, and while Carroll hinted to reporters last week that it could be a long-term issue, the Seahawks coach said Monday that his running back is trying to return in Week 10 along with Wilson.

“Chris is planning on practicing (next week),” he said. “I visited with him a couple times about this and (told him) he’s got to be able to, when he comes back from this break, pass a couple of little tests and stuff like that. If he can, he’s going to practice like that week.”

Carson “plans on playing against the Packers,” Carroll said.

“I don’t know if he’ll be able to pull that off, but we’re going with that,” he said. “He’s conditioning himself, he’s well enough prepared to jump in one week and play if physically he can handle it.”

The good news with Carson’s neck injury is that it’s different than the neck injuries that ended the careers of Seahawks legends Kam Chancellor and Cliff Avril.

“But when it’s a spinal issue, there’s great concerns we need to uphold and all that and do it right and take care of him for the long haul, so that’s what we’re doing,” Carroll said.

The Pete Carroll Show airs live at 9:30 a.m. the morning after each Seahawks game on 710 ESPN Seattle. You can listen to this week’s episode at this link or in the player below.

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