Russell Wilson, Seahawks' offense need Doug Baldwin back for good
Doug Baldwin was reflecting on what has been the most trying season of his NFL career last week when he made the type of frank acknowledgement that you don't often hear from a professional athlete.
The Seattle Seahawks' long-time No. 1 receiver quickly answered in the affirmative when asked if the injuries he has dealt with -- five of them since the summer -- have him feeling like he's on the downside of his career.nike nfl jerseys cheap china
For the first one, he made an over-the-shoulder grab with his arms outstretched on a floating pass from Russell Wilson toward the back corner of the end zone. The second one had a higher degree of difficulty, with Baldwin leaping and twisting his body in midair to pluck a Wilson scramble throw before diving across the goal line through contact.
All four of his catches for 77 yards came on third down. The game might have never made it to overtime had there been a fifth. On a third-and-15 play on Seattle's final possession of regulation, Wilson had Baldwin running open deep down the seam but instead threw incomplete to David Moore near the sideline.
"Doug was spectacular today," coach Pete Carroll said postgame.
"I felt good," Baldwin said. "I think this has been a long time coming. We've been working diligently trying to get my body right. It's just been a process. ... I'm finally feeling like my normal self. I think we figured out tonight, before the game, we figured out the last component to making sure that my body is staying healthy."
If that sounds familiar, it should.cheap nfl nike jerseys from china
Six days after Baldwin scored his first touchdown in Week 11 against Green Bay, Carroll said he was feeling the best he had felt all season. To that point, Baldwin had missed a month of training camp with a patellar injury in one knee and two-and-a-half games after he hurt the MCL in his other knee in the opener, which snapped his streak of 89 consecutive games played. Against the Raiders in London in Week 6, he hyper-extended his elbow and suffered what he called a tear of his ulnar collateral ligament, which he's been playing through.
On the day Carroll declared Baldwin to be as healthy as he has been, Baldwin hurt his groin in practice. Injury No. 5 -- this one to his hip -- came nine days later. He was able to play in Seattle's first meeting against the 49ers but was inactive against Minnesota the following week.
