Matthew Stafford and Russell Wilson gave each other the finger in their battle on Thursday night, but not in the way it sounds. Both quarterbacks suffered finger injuries at some point during the Seattle Seahawks loss to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 5, but Wilson got the worst of it. While attempting a pass in the third quarter, Wilson banged his throwing hand against All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald and it became visibly disfigured. He left the game and didn’t return — backup quarterback Geno Smith taking the reins instead — and more tests are needed to determine if Wilson’s ironman streak of 149 consecutive starts will end next week.
For Stafford, it was a much different outcome. He didn’t even realize his finger was injured until sometime later, and when he did, he took matters into his own hands — literally.
“I wish I could [tell you when it happened],” Stafford told media, via Pro Football Talk. “I don’t know. I looked down at a certain point on a drive in the second quarter — I think the one we kicked the field goal on — I just looked down and felt a little pressure on it. I maybe got it on a handoff or a snap or something, I’m not 100 percent sure.
“I looked down and felt a little pressure in there. It was just a little bit out of place and I was able to put it back in and keep going. It didn’t affect me too much to be honest with you.”
That’s obviously true, considering how he finished the evening. Stafford threw for 365 yards on 25-for-37 passing with a touchdown and one interception, aided largely by a big day from wideout Robert Woods, who grabbed 150 receiving yards on 12 receptions, while Cooper Kupp threw in 92 receiving yards of his own and veteran receiver DeSean Jackson added 68 yards on a momentum-swinging catch from Stafford.
Stafford never left the game to be evaluated, and the 26-17 victory over the Seahawks puts the Rams at 4-1 on the season while also pushing the Seahawks — who might see Wilson miss some time — down to 2-3 on the year and at the bottom of a brutally competitive NFC West. He’ll also have added time to let his finger recover, seeing as their Week 6 matchup with the New York Giants isn’t until Oct. 17.
