As practice came to a close late Saturday morning, quarterback Nate Sudfeld made his way over to the media with a sling on his left arm. After sustaining a broken left wrist during Thursday night's game while bracing his fall, Sudfeld had surgery Friday morning and was back on the sidelines today supporting his team. His spirits were high for someone who had a plate and screws put into his arm only 24 hours earlier.
"I feel great," Sudfeld said. "Surgery went great yesterday. I'm really thankful for the service and that they did such a good job and that they got me in so fast. As far as timetable, I'm trying to get back as soon as I can, but I've never broken a bone before so I'm trying to listen to the doctors and hopefully be back really soon."
Sudfeld went down with less than a minute left in the first half against the Titans. He recalled what it felt like in the moment and knew almost instantaneously that something was not right.
"Yeah, it felt a little weird," Sudfeld said. "My hand was a little numb. I was moving my fingers and the break was right under my wristband. I stood there for a second and wiggled my fingers and my wristband was kind of crooked. So, I just ran off the field and pretty much knew. I am fortunate that I could get surgery early the next morning. I feel good that it's back in place and I'm on the road to recovery."
Prior to his injury, Sudfeld was finding his groove with the offense. He threw for 177 yards, with 10 completions on 18 attempts. Sudfeld's performance was highlighted by a 75-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Marken Michel in the second quarter. While it is not ideal to miss time during the preseason, Sudfeld is putting things into perspective and searching for that silver lining.
"It's definitely disappointing," Sudfeld said. "I felt like I was getting in a rhythm and I felt like I was doing a lot of things that I wanted to do. As a team we were getting better and on offense we were putting some plays together. All things considered, I'm really fortunate and blessed that it was only a left wrist."
During his press conference Saturday, head coach Doug Pederson praised Sudfeld for his performance on Thursday night at Lincoln Financial Field and acknowledged how excited he will be when the fourth-year quarterback is fully recovered. Pederson is also looking forward to seeing what quarterbacks Cody Kessler and Clayton Thorson can do with more reps.
"Obviously, we're grateful that he got the time he got in the game the other night," Pederson said. "I thought he did some great things, showed great poise, made some great throws. There were a few things that we saw on film that we will be able to coach him up this afternoon when we watch the tape with the players. Felt good. It is unfortunate that he got injured. Going to miss the rest of Training Camp, obviously. But this is a great opportunity for both Cody and Clayton to really embrace now the opportunity they have in front of them."
