Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson played Thursday night against the Colts, and three quarters of the previous game against the Raiders, while battling a partially torn lat near his right shoulder, according to sources.
Wilson suffered the injury in the beginning of the second quarter of the loss to Las Vegas during a game in which he threw two touchdowns and ran for another.
Doctors diagnosed the injury in the days leading up to the Colts game. Wilson did not practice until Wednesday, one day before Denver hosted Indianapolis. He was listed on the injury report as questionable with a shoulder strain.
Wilson is not expected to need surgery on the shoulder, per sources. He is expected to be ready to play in the Broncos’ next game a week from Monday night in Los Angeles against the Chargers, even though he is not expected to be 100%. Doctors believe the injury could linger for multiple weeks, sources said.
Wilson played through the injury Thursday night before flying to Los Angeles on Friday, as NFL Network reported, to receive an injection in his shoulder with the hope that between that treatment and rest, he will feel and play better.
Wilson completed 21 of 39 passes for 274 yards, two interceptions and no touchdowns Thursday in the 12-9 overtime loss. Afterward, Wilson took blame for the loss and noted his shoulder injury.
“You’ve got to look at this — I’ve got to look at this and see where I can get better,” Wilson said Thursday night. “I was battling, obviously, just the shoulder [injury] and all that and just trying to play quickly. We should have won that game. [We] should have won it. Like I said, it’s on me. The one thing that I know is I’ve gone through tough times before. I’ve gone through obstacles, I’ve gone through challenges, gone through highs as well as lows. A lot of highs, several lows, and I wasn’t ever getting discouraged ever.”
ESPN’s Jeff Legwold contributed to this report.