After five weeks on the sidelines, Seattle Seahawks middle linebacker Bobby Wagner is closing in on a return to the lineup.
Wagner returned to practice on Wednesday after suffering a turf toe injury against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6.
Head coach Pete Carroll was still unsure how much Wagner will be able to do this week against the Arizona Cardinals.
“When the guys worked him out yesterday they thought he was in phenomenal shape,” Carroll said. “He breezed through the workout. He’s worked really hard to maintain his conditioning level. Let’s see what happens though. We won’t put him in harm’s way but if he’s ready to go we’ll play him more. We just need to find out. We won’t know until game time.”
Wagner said he tore the ligament that connects his big toe to the bottom of his right foot and broke his sesamoid bone.
Wagner completely tore the ligament in his foot. The doctor told him the extent of the injury during halftime and Wagner was told he couldn’t injure it any further if he played on it. So Wagner got a shot to numb the foot and played the second half on his injured foot.
Wagner finished the game with seven tackles and a quarterback hit, five tackles coming in the second half.
“After that my foot swelled up to where I couldn’t really walk,” Wagner said.
His foot was put in a cast to keep his toe curled up in a place where the ligament could heal on its own.
Wagner said he expected to miss eight weeks with the injury, so to possibly make it back on the field sooner is a positive. Wagner had been averaging 10 tackles a game for Seattle in five games before the injury.
Given the loss of nose tackle Brandon Mebane, Wagner’s return in the middle of the defense could really help the Seahawks.
