Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson has been playing through a partially torn lat in his right throwing shoulder, an injury that limited him in practice last week before facing the Indianapolis Colts.
After that Thursday Night Football showdown with the Colts, Wilson flew to Los Angeles on Friday to get an injection to help ease pain in his shoulder.
Despite that injury, Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett said Tuesday that Wilson “should be ready to play” when Denver goes on the road to face the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football in Week 6.
“I [have] learned in this game [that] everybody has something that’s going on,” Hackett said. “It’s a very, very physical game, as we see week-in and week-out with everybody. Russell’s a very tough human being. He’s not going to miss anything.
“He wants to be out there competing for this team. So we’ll just make sure that we take care of him, do the right thing to get him to as close to 100 percent as we can.”
Brett Rypien is the team’s backup quarterback.
Through five games this season, Wilson has completed 59.4% of his passes for 1,254 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions while adding 73 yards and another score on the ground. Wilson has also been sacked 16 sacks, marking the sixth-most sacks a QB has taken this season.
Those hits certainly haven’t helped Wilson’s health, and losing left tackle Garett Bolles to a season-ending leg injury probably won’t help Wilson’s sack rate go down. The Broncos are left to hope that Wilson will be able to play through the pain and eventually recover from his shoulder injury.
