Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson was forced to miss most of the fourth quarter Thursday night against the Rams after suffering an injury to the middle finger on his throwing hand.
Wilson appeared to be hurt while throwing in the third quarter; his hand made contact with Los Angeles lineman Aaron Donald's wrist or forearm on a followthrough. Replays showed the tip of the middle finger was bent at an odd angle.
O DEDO DO RUSSELL WILSON, BICHO!!!#NFLBrasil pic.twitter.com/bohrhECnvp
— NFL Brasil (@NFLBrasil) October 8, 2021
The veteran signal-caller played one drive after the injury, but then Seattle coach Pete Carroll replaced him with backup Geno Smith early in the fourth. Smith led Seattle on a touchdown drive to cut the team's deficit to 16-14. Los Angeles responded with a touchdown to push its lead to 23-14. Smith then led another scoring drive, this time with a field goal, to make it 23-17 with just over 2 1/2 minutes remaining.
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Wilson, 32, has never missed an NFL game in his career. In 2020, he posted his ninth consecutive season of 16 starts. He started the Seahawks' first five games this year.
Smith, 31, has been Wilson's backup since 2019 but had attempted just five passes, all in 2020, before Thursday. He has starting experience with the Jets, who drafted him in the second round out of West Virginia in 2013. He started 29 games for New York his first two seasons before being replaced by Ryan Fitzpatrick.
He started once more for the Jets in 2016 and famously started for the Giants in 2017 when the team ended Eli Manning's streak of consecutive starts.