Russell Wilson’s injury status is the Broncos’ latest concern, but it’s not his ailing throwing shoulder at issue.
The Denver quarterback had a MRI on his hamstring Tuesday after injuring it late in the fourth quarter Monday night against the Chargers in Los Angeles, head coach Nathaniel Hackett said.
Hackett wouldn’t divulge exactly what the imaging showed 3— “we’re still looking at it, evaluating it, getting a feel for it,” he said — but did affirm that the team considered Wilson “day to day” and that he had a chance to play Sunday against the New York Jets.
“That’s going to be day to day, so we’ll get a feel for him throughout today and into tomorrow,” Hackett said when asked what the quarterback’s practice workload will look like this week.
Wilson after the game said his hamstring “grabbed me pretty good” while he was scrambling outside the pocket during the fourth quarter of the team’s overtime loss.
“Just tried to play through it,” Wilson said. “I felt good moving around and throwing it and everything else early on and then that happened, which was a little unfortunate. But, you know, just trying to find a way to win a game.”
Wilson appeared to suffer the injury trying to move around and evade the Los Angeles pass rush on a play with about 2 minutes, 30 seconds remaining in regulation. After throwing the ball away, Denver called timeout to discuss a third-and-6 play call. It didn’t help, though, because the Chargers blitzed and linebacker Drue Tranquill came free up the middle. Wilson was sacked and Denver punted.
Hackett acknowledged that the injury played a role in what the Broncos called late in the game and in overtime.
“To a certain extent, whenever you have anybody that’s a little banged up, you’re always trying to make sure that you’re adjusting to any player who might be in or out or affected,” he said. “We wanted to make sure that we were able to put him in a good position to be able to execute.”
Hackett on Tuesday said that the Broncos have confidence in backup Brett Rypien and practice squad veteran Josh Johnson if Wilson is unable to play Sunday.
“With Russell, he’s the ultimate competitor and he’s going to do everything in his power to get out on that field,” Hackett said. “We have to make sure that he’s healthy enough to go out and play at a high level.
“If whoever has to go in, whether it’s ‘Ryp,’ Josh, whoever it is, we feel confident that we can build a plan for them that makes them successful.”
Wilson injured the lat muscle near his right shoulder against Indianapolis nearly two weeks ago and he received a platet-rich plasma injection on Oct. 7 for treatment. He said that, 11 days later, the injury “did good” during the loss to the Chargers.
“But listen, the only thing that matters is us winning. I’m not going to sugar-coat it,” Wilson said. “The only thing that matters is us winning and finding a way.”
Wilson completed his first 10 pass attempts of the night to nine different receivers and hit 12-of-17 for 173 yards and a touchdown in the first half. In the second half and overtime, though, he went just 3 of 11 for 15 yards.
Wilson has started 164 out of a possible 167 regular-season games in his career. He had not missed a start due to injury until last fall, his 10th year with Seattle, when a finger injury required surgery and kept him out for three weeks.
Rypien won the No. 2 job over Johnson during the preseason. He’s played in four career games and made one start, coincidently against the Jets, in 2020. In that game, he completed 19 of 31 passes for 242 yards, a pair of touchdowns and three interceptions in a 37-28 Broncos’ victory.
