Russell Wilson played Saturday without a brace for the first time since hurting his knee in Week 3. What he said about it: pic.twitter.com/8xSpOeFusQ — Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) January 11, 2017

RENTON – The Seahawks’ wild-card victory over Detroit on Saturday marked the first time quarterback Russell Wilson has played in a game without a brace protecting his left knee since he sprained his MCL back in Week 3. He was more than ready to ditch it.

“It felt great,” Wilson said of playing brace-free. “Obviously, as I’ve been saying to you guys, I’ve been practicing really for the past five or six weeks without it, so my legs have been feeling really good. Just wanted to be smart and get to the playoffs and have a chance to hopefully go try to win it all. My legs felt great and my legs feel good right now, feeling fast and all that.”

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Wilson said that while the brace was fairly lightweight it was still restrictive, impeding his range of motion when he was striding.

“It’s nice to have it off,” he said.

Noted in this post from last week is how much the Seahawks’ running game missed Wilson’s mobility throughout the regular season, when he ran for fewer than half the rushing yards – 259 – than he averaged over his first four years.

He didn’t provide anything in the running game Saturday – not that Seattle really needed it – finishing with minus-3 yards on three official attempts. But he did look noticeably fast while sprinting into the open field to throw a block on a 32-yard run by Thomas Rawls late in the third quarter.