Big Thumb's Down for Vinny
Jets QB is out indefinitely after hitting helmet
July 31, 2002
With all the throws that a quarterback makes in his career, it is bound to happen. Eventually, his thumb is going to crash into the helmet of a lineman.
No one can predict when it's going to happen, or whether it will happen to a young quarterback or an old one. It happened to Vinny Testaverde in the fifth practice of training camp yesterday, and draped a collective cloud of uncertainty over the Jets' immediate future.
Testaverde jammed the thumb on his throwing hand against a helmet after an offensive lineman got pushed toward him as he released a pass.
The Jets' 38-year-old starter, coming off foot surgery that cost him 2 1/2 months of practice reps this offseason, could miss the Jets' preseason opener next week - and perhaps more games. It's the same type of injury that hounded Brett Favre for the entire 1999 season and Kurt Warner for all of 2001.
"We were in team drills and I threw a pass," Testaverde said. "As I threw the ball, one of the offensive linemen got pushed back. My thumb hit a helmet and I jammed it pretty good. I don't know when I'll be back out at practice again."
X-rays and an MRI, taken after the morning practice, revealed no broken bones or ligament tears, coach Herman Edwards said. Ken Montgomery, the Jets' associate orthopedist, examined Testaverde last night. Edwards said results will be available today.
"We're going to be very, very cautious with him and make sure it doesn't happen again," Edwards said. "... It's a day-to-day situation, unless Montgomery comes up with something that we don't anticipate."
Testaverde's take on the injury was less than encouraging. It's been his practice to shrug off minor aches and pains; he even played several games in 2000 with a debilitating neck and shoulder injury that no one knew about publicly.
"I've jammed my thumb before," Testaverde said. "Usually, it's just a couple of weeks, if that. I don't expect to miss too much time. I certainly expect to be back for the opening game of the regular season."
The regular season? Though Testaverde said he doesn't want to think that way, there's little doubt that this injury could linger.
For a quarterback who is admittedly rusty after an offseason interrupted by surgery to remove a benign tumor from his right foot, this qualifies as the first red flag of the 2002 season. The Jets still are trying to become proficient in the West Coast offense, and they will do it for the time being with backup Chad Pennington at quarterback.
"I probably could be back in a couple of days," Testaverde said. "But we're in camp, and this is a time when I can let it heal and I don't have to rush back ... Any time you miss a day of camp, it can't be good. Then again, I'd rather have a setback during camp than during the regular season."
A similar injury dealt Favre and Warner setbacks for an entire season. Both quarterbacks jammed the thumb on their throwing hand when it struck a helmet. Favre did it in a preseason game, and Warner did it in the season opener against Philadelphia last year.
Favre endured one of only two seasons in his 11-year career in which he threw more interceptions than touchdowns. Warner was still bothered by the thumb injury in the Rams' 20-17 loss to New England in the Super Bowl. The injury affected Warner's grip and his ability to throw deep all season.
Mindful of Warner's injury, Testaverde said, "I don't want to have this nag me throughout the season if I have a chance to let it heal completely now." Testaverde, who doesn't know whose helmet he hit, said that if he'd hurt the thumb in a regular-season game, he could have kept playing.
But he also feared at first that he'd dislocated the thumb, and appeared distraught while kneeling with ice and a wrap on his throwing hand.
Edwards exercises extreme caution with veterans in training camp, so it is unlikely that Testaverde will return to practice until his thumb is completely healed. That leaves the Jets' still-developing offense in the hands of Pennington, a first-round pick in 2000 who is eager to prove he's a capable starter.
"The guys believe in me, and I believe I can do the job," said Pennington, who practiced with the first team in the post-draft camps while Testaverde recovered from surgery. "A good NFL team, in order for it to be successful, you have to have two good quarterbacks."
Testaverde joked that the injury "almost seems like it's not worth the ink you're going to use to write the story." Only time will tell.
Out of Joint
Brett Favre and Kurt Warner each suffered an injury similar to the sprained thumb Vinny Testaverde suffered in practice yesterday. Favre, injured in preseason 1999, was affected more than Warner, who was hurt in the 2001 season opener. Their stats before and after the injury:
BRETT FAVRE
Comp-Att Comp. % TD INT
1998 347-551 63.0 31 23
1999 341-595 57.3 22 23
KURT WARNER
2000 235-347 67.7 21 18
2001 375-546 68.7 36 22
Jets QB is out indefinitely after hitting helmet
July 31, 2002
With all the throws that a quarterback makes in his career, it is bound to happen. Eventually, his thumb is going to crash into the helmet of a lineman.
No one can predict when it's going to happen, or whether it will happen to a young quarterback or an old one. It happened to Vinny Testaverde in the fifth practice of training camp yesterday, and draped a collective cloud of uncertainty over the Jets' immediate future.
Testaverde jammed the thumb on his throwing hand against a helmet after an offensive lineman got pushed toward him as he released a pass.
The Jets' 38-year-old starter, coming off foot surgery that cost him 2 1/2 months of practice reps this offseason, could miss the Jets' preseason opener next week - and perhaps more games. It's the same type of injury that hounded Brett Favre for the entire 1999 season and Kurt Warner for all of 2001.
"We were in team drills and I threw a pass," Testaverde said. "As I threw the ball, one of the offensive linemen got pushed back. My thumb hit a helmet and I jammed it pretty good. I don't know when I'll be back out at practice again."
X-rays and an MRI, taken after the morning practice, revealed no broken bones or ligament tears, coach Herman Edwards said. Ken Montgomery, the Jets' associate orthopedist, examined Testaverde last night. Edwards said results will be available today.
"We're going to be very, very cautious with him and make sure it doesn't happen again," Edwards said. "... It's a day-to-day situation, unless Montgomery comes up with something that we don't anticipate."
Testaverde's take on the injury was less than encouraging. It's been his practice to shrug off minor aches and pains; he even played several games in 2000 with a debilitating neck and shoulder injury that no one knew about publicly.
"I've jammed my thumb before," Testaverde said. "Usually, it's just a couple of weeks, if that. I don't expect to miss too much time. I certainly expect to be back for the opening game of the regular season."
The regular season? Though Testaverde said he doesn't want to think that way, there's little doubt that this injury could linger.
For a quarterback who is admittedly rusty after an offseason interrupted by surgery to remove a benign tumor from his right foot, this qualifies as the first red flag of the 2002 season. The Jets still are trying to become proficient in the West Coast offense, and they will do it for the time being with backup Chad Pennington at quarterback.
"I probably could be back in a couple of days," Testaverde said. "But we're in camp, and this is a time when I can let it heal and I don't have to rush back ... Any time you miss a day of camp, it can't be good. Then again, I'd rather have a setback during camp than during the regular season."
A similar injury dealt Favre and Warner setbacks for an entire season. Both quarterbacks jammed the thumb on their throwing hand when it struck a helmet. Favre did it in a preseason game, and Warner did it in the season opener against Philadelphia last year.
Favre endured one of only two seasons in his 11-year career in which he threw more interceptions than touchdowns. Warner was still bothered by the thumb injury in the Rams' 20-17 loss to New England in the Super Bowl. The injury affected Warner's grip and his ability to throw deep all season.
Mindful of Warner's injury, Testaverde said, "I don't want to have this nag me throughout the season if I have a chance to let it heal completely now." Testaverde, who doesn't know whose helmet he hit, said that if he'd hurt the thumb in a regular-season game, he could have kept playing.
But he also feared at first that he'd dislocated the thumb, and appeared distraught while kneeling with ice and a wrap on his throwing hand.
Edwards exercises extreme caution with veterans in training camp, so it is unlikely that Testaverde will return to practice until his thumb is completely healed. That leaves the Jets' still-developing offense in the hands of Pennington, a first-round pick in 2000 who is eager to prove he's a capable starter.
"The guys believe in me, and I believe I can do the job," said Pennington, who practiced with the first team in the post-draft camps while Testaverde recovered from surgery. "A good NFL team, in order for it to be successful, you have to have two good quarterbacks."
Testaverde joked that the injury "almost seems like it's not worth the ink you're going to use to write the story." Only time will tell.
Out of Joint
Brett Favre and Kurt Warner each suffered an injury similar to the sprained thumb Vinny Testaverde suffered in practice yesterday. Favre, injured in preseason 1999, was affected more than Warner, who was hurt in the 2001 season opener. Their stats before and after the injury:
BRETT FAVRE
Comp-Att Comp. % TD INT
1998 347-551 63.0 31 23
1999 341-595 57.3 22 23
KURT WARNER
2000 235-347 67.7 21 18
2001 375-546 68.7 36 22
