Broken finger no problem for Seahawks receiver Mike Williams

Published on November 15, 2010 by Seahawk Fanatic     

Mike Williams was headed for a postgame interview, but he needed something else first.

A Band-Aid.

Actually, he needed two for the pinkie finger on his right hand. It was injured during Thursday’s practice when the first ball thrown to Williams didn’t just go through his hands, it did a number on his finger.

“It was just kind of a fluke,” he said.

It bent Williams’ finger back so badly, it broke the skin, making it possible to see the bone.

“Coach (Pete) Carroll was like, ‘Hey, put something on it and let’s go,’ ” Williams said. “It wasn’t too crazy.”

Pretty incredible, though, that four days later he caught 11 passes against the Arizona Cardinals and finished with a career-high 145 yards.

“It was a huge statement about his toughness and all,” Carroll said.

Williams’ 46 receptions are most on the team this season. He caught just 44 passes total his first three years in the NFL, and after spending the past two seasons out of the league, he’s certainly a candidate for comeback player of the year. He’s also a candidate for Seattle’s come-through player, as he has played this season through two knee injuries, a sore shoulder and now a broken finger.

Williams and fellow receivers Deon Butler and Ben Obomanu served as the jumper cables for Seattle’s offense Sunday, jump-starting the Seahawks out of their two-week slump.

“The last couple of weeks, we weren’t really able to do a lot on the perimeter,” Williams said.

That changed in Arizona. Of the Seahawks’ 93 yards of offense in the first quarter, Williams was responsible for 73 of those yards. He caught five passes in the period, four of which converted third-down opportunities.

That had an effect on Arizona’s defense, causing the Cardinals to incorporate safety Adrian Wilson into coverage schemes and pull him away from his role in run support.

“When you can get Wilson out of the box, then it opens up a little better for your offensive line,” Williams said. “You can anticipate how they’re going to attack you.”

In the fourth quarter, Wilson was matched up on Williams for what turned out to be Williams’ best catch of the game. The Seahawks faced second-and-20 after a holding penalty on first down, and Hasselbeck threw toward Williams, who was tangled up with Wilson and could reach out with only one hand.

“It’s one of those plays where the ball is kind of out of reach and you just make an attempt at it,” Williams said.

An attempt on which his right hand looked like a suction cup, grabbing the ball. Did it surprise him?

“Of course,” he said. “Are you serious?”

The fact he had a broken finger made it all the more remarkable.

Tags: Adrian Wilson, Arizona Cardinals, Band Aid, Broken Finger, coach pete carroll, Comeback Player, First Quarter, Fluke, Jumper Cables, Knee Injuries, Offensive Line, Perimeter, Pinkie Finger, Postgame Interview, Receivers, Receptions, Slump, Sore Shoulder, Toughness, Two Seasons