Geno Smith to remain Seahawks starting QB with Russell Wilson hurt

The Seattle Seahawks lost to the New Orleans Saints 13-10 Monday night to fall to 2-5 on the season with Geno Smith making his second straight start as Russell Wilson continues to recover from surgery needed to repair an injury to the middle finger on his throwing hand. 

Wilson will remain sidelined through at least this Sunday's matchup against the 1-5 Jacksonville Jaguars, and Brady Henderson of ESPN notes head coach Pete Carroll told 710 ESPN Seattle Tuesday morning that Smith will start against Jacksonville. 

"Yeah, he is. And we're counting on him to just keep getting better and us to play better around him," Carroll explained. 

"He's managing the game well," Carroll continued about Smith. "I would like him to get the football out, be more open to throw the ball away. We talked about it in the locker room after the game. Sometimes those situations happen so fast, and to make that declaration to give up on the play is something that takes experience. That experience for Geno right now, it's not quite settled in the way he needs to be satisfied with, 'I've got to throw the ball away, we've got to punt the football.' And there's nothing wrong with that. We took two or three sacks last night that we shouldn't have taken." 

Carroll and company aren't necessarily spoiled for options at the position with Wilson out through Halloween. Seattle claimed 2020 fourth-round draft pick Jacob Eason off waivers from the Indianapolis Colts last week, and Jake Luton and Danny Etling are also available on the practice squad. 

The Seahawks reportedly passed on pursuing free agent and 2015 NFL Most Valuable Player Cam Newton after Wilson went down. 

Thus far this season, Smith has completed 45 of 71 passes (63.4%) for 507 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. He also lost a costly fumble in overtime that directly resulted in the Pittsburgh Steelers defeating Seattle on Oct. 17.