Russell Wilson said he has been rehabbing around the clock since spraining his ankle in the Seahawks' season-opening win over the Miami Dolphins this past Sunday, and that despite the injury limiting his mobility during the second half of Week 1, the Seattle quarterback expects to be all set for this weekend's game against the Los Angeles Rams.
"Yeah, I'll be ready to roll," Wilson said before Thursday's practice at Virginia Mason Athletic Center. "So I'm excited about it."
Wilson said his ankle was in a boot following Sunday's game, but since then he has undergone hours of treatment with Seahawks staff and a personal movement specialist that have afforded him "probably two hours" of sleep every night in an effort "to do everything I can to make sure that I'm at my best come Sunday."
"A lot of hard work and a lot of prayers and tons of ice too," Wilson said.
Wilson also noted that his ankle has not swollen up any more and that "it looks just like the other leg as well."
"That's the positive thing," Wilson said. "Usually when you have something wrong with your ankles or something like that, they swell up pretty big and fortunately since the moment the game ended I've kind of been on top of it. So it's been a blessing."
Wilson was a full participant in practice on Wednesday and both head coach Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell have been encouraged by the quarterback's progress, with Bevell saying Wednesday that the Seahawks expect Wilson to be "full-go" against the Rams. Wilson doesn't think the injury will impact the way he plays in Week 2.
"I don't think it will affect it," Wilson said. "I think that ultimately we want to play fast, we want to play smart, we want to be great on third down and in the red zone, so nothing really changes. You've got to play a little bit dinged up in this game. You've got to be tough enough, mentally tough enough, have the mental fortitude to be able to do that. So I think it's important to have that mentality. So we're excited about playing."
Wilson isn't sure how long he will have to maintain the rigorous rehab schedule, but as it stands right now, he's "feeling confident as can be."
"I don't know, I"m just taking it one day at a time," he said. "Doing the best I can every day. Feeling great. Feeling really positive about it, feeling confident as can be. So I"ll be ready to go come gameday."
Added Seahawks free safety Earl Thomas: "Just having Russ out there with us, that's a sense of our general on the offensive side of the ball. As a leader, we want him out there. I don't think there's anybody other that's best but Russ. We need Russ out there, and that just gives everybody hope and it feels regular."
