Russell Wilson Illustrating Innate Toughness in His Most Challenging Season

For a moment, Russell Wilson is at rest. He's not scurrying away from a horde of linebackers. Nor is he in the midst of hours of treatment to keep the pain of multiple injuries at enough of a distance to allow him to play.

Instead, Wilson is on the telephone, and he is asked a simple question: Is this the most physically taxing season he's had in the NFL?

"One hundred percent, yes," Wilson said in an interview with B/R. "This has been a new journey for sure.

"It's just been more physically challenging this season." added Wilson, who has been in the league since 2012. "The main thing I try to do is just play and be there for my teammates."

Wilson won't make excuses; that's not what this column is about.

This is a reality check. This is the truth. Wilson has been playing through more pain than he's let on, I was told by several of his teammates, who lauded his toughness. They say if Tom Brady were playing through the kind of injuries that Wilson is, there would be a great spilling of ink and words praising Brady's grit.

Now someone out there, one of the legions of pesky Wilson haters who think he's overrated, will say this is caping for his poor play. If you're one of those, you may want to read elsewhere.

Truth be told, in a season filled with compelling signal-callers proven and unproven, it's been Wilson who has shown another aspect of what it means to be a quarterback.

This isn't to say Wilson is displaying courage—that's a word that should be reserved for those who risk their lives for others—but it isn't far off in a football sense.

I know many players play with pain, but I think Wilson has also been injured. There's a difference.

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The fact he's played through his injuries has barely been acknowledged nationally (and certainly not the way it would be with other quarterbacks), mainly because Wilson has become somewhat of a polarizing figure. He doesn't always seem sincere (I get it), and he sometimes speaks like a car salesman (I get that, too). But he remains one of the toughest players in the sport, and one of its best winners, and whether you like him or not won't change either of those things.

Wilson has played through three different injuries this season: a right high-ankle sprain, a sprained MCL in his left knee and a right pectoral strain. This doesn't mean he should be elected president. It's just something that shouldn't be overlooked.

With almost constant treatment over the past week and beyond, Wilson told me he is improving. "I've been doing rehab every chance I can," he said. "I'm getting healthier by the day."

The injuries, however, have transformed the normally multidimensional Wilson into less of an overall threat. Though he is a far better pocket passer than people give him credit for—in the latter part of last season, he and Doug Baldwin torched the NFL with Wilson playing mostly from the pocket—his game at its best has always been throwing and running.

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"There are some elements that are different in the run game this year than last year at this time," coach Pete Carroll told the media this week. "And part of it is we have not allowed Russell to take off and run very much, and he's been very, very effective for us over the years. So we've had to take care of him, and that's just part of the way this season has been.

"He's getting better….We're going to keep progressing as he is able and do what we can do to get back to the kind of mix that we like. I know it's coming, so I'm pretty optimistic about it. We just need to keep slugging it out here as we find our way, and we're getting close."

Just as revealing, Carroll put Wilson's performance this season in context of what the Seahawks are asking from him. "He's done everything he could possibly do to help us," Carroll said. "If there's been any limitations, it's limitations we've put on him just to try to keep him safe and keep him sound out there and keep him playing..."

Translation: We've held Wilson back a little to protect him from himself.

Wilson, who was doing publicity work for Braun when we spoke, told me the knee brace he played with is gone and the pectoral issue likely won't limit his throwing as much when the Seahawks play Buffalo on Monday night.

What many have long missed when it comes to Wilson isn't that he's more talented than they're capable of seeing, but that's he also tougher and more determined, his golly gee act hiding a ferocious ability to compete.

He has a ways to go before we start talking Hall of Fame. Still, it's important to recognize that Wilson playing at his most pedestrian level is a quarterback displaying the kind of tenacity we want from stars, from all players.

 Mike Freeman covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @mikefreemanNFL.