Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson returned to practice on Tuesday with no apparent limitations, four days after getting a platelet-rich plasma injection in Los Angeles to treat a strained muscle near his throwing shoulder.
Wilson injured the latissimus dorsi, a flat muscle on the back that stretches to the sides and behind the arms, near his throwing shoulder in the Week 5 game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
He managed to play through the injury in Thursday’s 12-9 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, then flew to Los Angeles for an injection to alleviate the pain.
In his Thursday postgame comments, the former Seahawk said that he was “battling” shoulder discomfort, but didn’t blame the injury for his poor performance. Wilson completed 21 of 39 passes and threw two big interceptions against the Colts. He also missed a wide-open KJ Hamler on the final play in overtime.
Wilson’s injury is fairly common in baseball. It is primarily treated with ice and by taking rest from any exercises.
Broncos left guard Dalton Risner said that Wilson wouldn’t let people know about his injury because wanted to help the team to get a win.
“Now that you guys know that he’s been battling an injury, the cool thing about Russell is that it wasn’t something that he let everyone know,” Risner said. “It wasn’t something that he was complaining about during the week. He wanted to … help us get a win.”
Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett confirmed on Tuesday that Wilson wouldn’t miss any games.
“Russell’s a very tough human being,” Hackett said. “He’s not going to miss anything. He wants to be out there competing for this team. So we’ll just make sure that we take care of him, do the right thing to get him to as close to 100% as we can.”
The nine-time Pro Bowler has thrown 1,254 yards with four touchdown passes through five games. He completed 59.4 percent of his passes and has three interceptions.
It can be said that Wilson was one of the league’s worst passers in 2022, so it made sense when people raised their eyebrows over his $245 million contract extension, signed before he started to play for the Broncos.
Fans want Broncos to play better
Fans are hoping Wilson will not only return to the field but also convince them that the Broncos did not overvalue him with the $245 million price tag. The media has been highlighting the ongoing partnership between Hackett and Wilson, which has produced only 14.6 points per game.
In Week 6, Denver will face the Los Angeles Chargers in their fourth prime-time game of the season on Monday night. Hacket said that the team was not in a bad condition and there was much room for improvement, so the team would get better.
“I think it’s a beautiful day,” Hackett said. “I’m here with everybody here. There is a lot of improvement to be done. Whenever you know that there’s an improvement that can happen, you know that there’s going to be a lot of improvement.”
“As we start getting those drops out and get those demons out, the guys will get better.”