Russell Wilson claims he spent ’19 or 20 hours a day’ rehabbing injury to fast-track Seahawks return

Russell Wilson was expected to miss up to six weeks as a result of a finger injury he suffered against the Rams during Week 5 of the NFL season.

The injury occurred when Aaron Donald’s hand collided with Russell Wilson’s while the Seahawks quarterback followed through on a pass. The injury looked ugly, as Wilson’s finger bent awkwardly on the play.

Wilson’s injury included two small breaks and a dislocation in the middle finger of his throwing hand. He had to have surgery and was told it would be a six- to eight-week recovery timeline after the procedure.

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However, Wilson’s goal was to “cut that [timeline] in half.” He accomplished that and is returning to action after just four weeks — three games and a bye week — out of action.

How did Wilson do it? Well, he told reporters that he worked around the clock to make the comeback.

“We probably spent 19 or 20 hours a day working on this hand, trying to break records with this thing,’’ Wilson said in a news conference, per Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times. “It was a pretty severe injury in the sense of how many things happened. I think for me, my whole mindset was to cut the time in half, and that has been my mindset since the moment that it happened.”

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That may be a bit of an exaggeration on Wilson’s part, as his comments imply he slept just four to five hours a night while rehabbing his injury. That said, the goal of his rehab was to keep his finger in constant motion to avoid scar tissue building up, as NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport detailed, so perhaps he found a way to do that while catching some shut-eye.

Either way, Wilson put many hours of work into his rehab and completed each step of it quickly. Though he was upset that his streak of 149 consecutive regular season starts came to an end, Wilson actually seemed to enjoy rehab.

“The thing in rehab, just in the general process, has been to take the next step, the next breath,” Wilson said. “That’s been a cool journey.”

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And how is he feeling ahead of his return to the field against the Packers?

“I feel great,” Wilson said on Thursday. “I feel really close. I’m not 100 percent yet, but I’m pretty dang close. I would say in the 90 percentile if not higher. I feel great. I’ve got great conviction about what I’m doing and how I’m doing it. My mindset is better than ever, ready to roll and ready to go.”

Soon enough, we’ll see how Wilson does — and if he’ll be able to grip the ball well during a snowy day in Green Bay.