ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — This may at least partially explain things.
After his rough performance in the Broncos' 12-9 loss Thursday night against the Indianapolis Colts, Russell Wilson flew the next day to Los Angeles where a shoulder specialist gave him an injection in his sore right throwing shoulder.
Wilson suffered the injury the previous Sunday in a 31-23 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. He was treated for the right shoulder injury by the Broncos' medical team last week and was cleared to play in the game Thursday against the Colts.
Wilson played poorly, particularly in the fourth quarter when he threw an ill-advised pop up heave on third-and-long that was intercepted by Colts safety Rodney Thomas while the Broncos were in Brandon McManus' field-goal range. It's fair to assume now that Wilson was trying to throw the ball out of the end zone and was unable to because of his shoulder ailment.
He then threw a second interception, this time in the end zone off a third-and-4 with the ball at the Indy 14 and 2:19 left in regulation when the Broncos could have iced the win with a first down or touchdown, while a field goal would have greatly increased their odds of winning.
After the first interception, Wilson was clobbered hard enough on a helmet-to-helmet hit from Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin during the Thomas' return that the quarterback was brought into the medical tent for a possible head injury.
Wilson was cleared and returned to the game withouth missing a snap. The shoulder injection may limit Wilson in practice next week but he is not expected to miss the Broncos' next game, Monday, Oct. 17 against the Chargers in Los Angeles.
Wilson's 82.8 rating ranks 20th among NFL quarterbacks and is by far the worst of his NFL career. In his previous 10 seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, Wilson never had a rating worse than 95.0 and he's posted 100.0 or above in seven seasons.
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