What actually happens when Russell Wilson is out of action? The Seattle Seahawks have never had to deal with that. Now they do. The answer is Geno Smith will take over.

Munich – For the Seattle Seahawks, things have been simple for more than nine years: Russell Wilson handles it. And if not even the seven-time Pro Bowler can help the franchise win, probably no other quarterback in the world could have done it either.

With his outstanding overview, quick legs and powerful throwing arm, the 32-year-old is almost unique. Because Wilson basically has no weakness.

And that is not even the best thing about him. His biggest plus so far has been that he’s never been injured.

Wilson probably back in Week 10 at the earliest

But that has now changed. Due to a complicated hand blister, the third rounder will miss a game for the first time since his NFL debut in 2012. And it won’t even stop there. According to NFL reporter Tom Pelissero, Wilson will not be back until Week 10 against the Green Bay Packers at the earliest. That is, after the bye week.

So he will miss at least three games. Which begs the question for the Seahawks: What comes next? Well, we can at least answer the question of who’s going to play. Geno Smith.

“Sometimes I have to hold back the tears “

The 31-year-old has been Wilson’s shadow man since 2019. Which makes him the best spectator position in the entire league. Because as we’ve said before, Wilson always plays. For the backup, that certainty definitely evokes melancholy.

“Sometimes it tears your heart out. Then I have to hold back the tears before the game thinking, ‘Man, I wish I could be out there right now,'” Smith offered insight into the emotional world of the backup who only steps on the turf before and after.

Smith always ready for his big performance

But of course he mustn’t let the gloomy thoughts get the better of him. Rather, Smith goes into each match as if this time is his hour: “I’ve been around long enough to know exactly when you think it’s not going to happen, it is. That’s why I prepare for every single game.”

So in the Thursday Night Game against the Los Angeles Rams, he wasn’t caught on the wrong foot. When Wilson hyperextended the fingers of his throwing hand on a charge by Aaron Donald and was suddenly out of commission from one moment to the next.

Smith was a big shot in college

Smith was sent onto the field. To lead Wilson’s team. To somehow conjure a comeback win out of a 7-16 deficit in the final quarter. As difficult as the task proved, his moment had come. After the devout Christian had had to be patient for so long.

Since 2015, Smith has played in only twelve games, and in 2017 he was last on the pitch as a starter. Eugene Cyril Smith III, who owes his nickname to his grandfather, who was called “Big Geno”, made a name for himself in football early on. In college, he set several team records in a West Virginia Mountaineers jersey.

Fallen unexpectedly to the second round in the draft

By the end of his third season, Smith and Co. mercilessly led the Clemson Tigers 70-33 in the Orange Bowl, the playmaker incidentally snatching the passing yards record for the Bowl Game from Tom Brady. The following year, Smith threw 42 touchdown passes.

The NFL was ready to come. But even the draft was a disappointment. Many experts had him pegged as a first rounder. Especially the franchises with the very early picks were said to be concerned with him.

Two years as a starter with the Jets

In the end, the New York Jets selected him 39th overall after beefing up their defense twice in the first round. Even before he signed the contract in the “Big Apple”, Smith changed his agency.

In his rookie season he was allowed to start directly – also because Mark Sanchez was out injured. However, Smith made 21 interceptions in the 16 games. The “Gang Green” trusted him again in 2014, but his performances continued to falter.

After the perfect game came Fitzpatrick

The highlight: In the final game of the season, he posted a perfect QB rating of 158.3 – in a 34-27 win over the Miami Dolphins, Smith had contributed 358 passing yards along with three touchdowns without an interception. Still, Ryan Fitzpatrick was put in front of him in 2015. The starter role was gone and never thrust into his hands again.

After a total of four Jets years, Smith moved on to his city rival. With the New York Giants, he became Eli Manning’s backup. In the course of the season, he became the first quarterback to play for both New York teams.

Then it was from the East Coast to the West Coast: in 2018, Smith took over Philip Rivers’ backup job with the Los Angeles Chargers. The move to Seattle followed the following year.

Smith likely the starter for weeks for first time in seven years

And there, Smith very likely gets to show what he’s got for multiple weeks for the first time in seven years. He already did that against the Rams.

In his first two drives he scored a touchdown – DK Metcalf caught the pass for 23 yards – and a field goal from 32 yards. The next pass, however, turned into an interception, in the last offensive move Smith made a false start and the team did not even reach the halfway line. So the visitors won 26:17.

“Geno did an incredible job “

For his teammates, there was no doubt about his abilities despite the lack of a happy ending. “I think Geno did an unbelievable job,” praised Tyler Lockett, targeted receiver on the interception. “We all knew he could play like that, and when he had the opportunity, he showed it.”

Quandre Diggs wrapped up the verbal bow a little differently, “There was nothing about Geno’s performance that impressed me because I know how much work he puts in, how he tries to get us ready every practice. He was ready for that moment and he took advantage of it. “

Caroll sees Seahawks “in good hands” with Smith

Similarly, head coach Pete Carroll was especially happy for his number seven: “I went right to Geno and told him, ‘You waited so long for your chance and your belief in us, that you had so much patience, makes me so proud.'”

At the same time, he also dispelled doubts that the Seahawks could look to the market for another Wilson replacement, saying, “He has talent and knows our system. If Geno steps in for Russ, we’re in good hands. “

“Geno, Geno” chants against Rams

Smith, then, will be the man to get the Seahawks back on track for the playoffs after now losing three of their first five games. By all appearances, at least in the duels with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the New Orleans Saints and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

He certainly has the necessary support – and not only in the dressing room. During the drives on Thursday night, the fans at Lumen Field celebrated him with chants of “Geno, Geno”. So the spark jumped over quickly.

That must have stirred a whole different set of emotions in him than the view from the sidelines on many previous game days.

“City has taken me in its arms “

“It would have been much nicer if we had won. But it meant so much to me, the city took me in their arms,” Smith responded to the vocal support. In the coming weeks, it will be his arm that counts most.

Of course, no one will expect him to shoulder the team alone in difficult phases in Wilson style and turn the tide. But it is also clear: the shadow man of the past years, the one with the best spectator position, is now back in the spotlight.

So there, where quarterbacks belong.