RENTON, Wash. (AP) After playing a Thursday game, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson spent his extended break getting his jaw back in alignment.
Wilson said Friday that he had to wear a specialized mouthpiece in the days after Seattle's 22-16 win over Arizona to put his jaw back in proper alignment. Wilson said he underwent X-rays and there was no fracture but a hit from Karlos Dansby required Wilson to limit the amount of speaking and eating he could do.
''I had to wear this, basically like a splint almost,'' Wilson said. ''A hard mouth guard that would reset my jaw a little bit and make me feel good and let me speak to you again.''
Wilson was hit by Dansby in the third quarter of Seattle's victory. The NFL subsequently began reviewing the way Seattle handled its evaluation of Wilson for a possible concussion after he was sent off the field by referee Walt Anderson. Wilson was on the sideline only briefly.
Wilson said he couldn't remember taking a hit to the jaw like that before.
''I think the league has got to do what they've got to do and it's obviously important for player safety and everything like that,'' Wilson said. ''I was completely fine. My jaw got busted up pretty good. We're cooperating and doing everything we can to make sure we do it the right way.''
What was obvious from the start was that Wilson's jaw hurt. He could be seen in television replays moving it around while he was still on the field. Wilson said he was on a liquid diet most of last weekend when the Seahawks got a few extra days of rest. He said it was about three days before he could eat solid food.
''I got images and everything like that. Sure enough I was lucky. It was pretty close,'' Wilson said. ''The doctor was like, `Any harder we probably would have had to wire your mouth shut.' That was a good thing that didn't happen.''
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