Attention Brady Quinn: Play through the Pain... on the Bench

I'm not going to say I saw the end result of the Texans-Browns game coming.  I'm not going to say that I saw Sage Rosenfels cutting up the secondary coming.  Sure he threw two picks, but he also racked up 275 yards and a touchdown while completing 3 out of every 4 passes he threw.  On a related note, has Brandon McDonald regressed somehow?  He looked nothing like the cornerback that was all over Andre Johnson last season to the point where Andre couldn't use an ATM for fear that Brandon might be behind him watching for his PIN number.

 All I'm going to say is this.  If you're hurt, don't play.  That's all.  Specifically, I'm talking about Brady Quinn.  I doubt anyone didn't know about the injury, but here's the gist of it:

Brady Quinn broke his index finger on his throwing hand.

You should find a total of four red flags in that statement.  One, the player and said player's position.  Two, the verb "broke" immediately following the player's name.  Don't tell me "it's just a fracture" like everyone else.  Fractured is just the politically-correct version of broken.  Three, the sublocale of the injury, the index finger.  Four, the fact that said broken finger is on his hand cannon.  He was cleared to play by some doctors who seemed to have some interest in sabotaging a few fantasy football leagues, but this is a simple matter of common sense:

If you play hurt, you're not going to get better.

This particular incident is not new.  Remember when Tony Romo broke his pinky on his throwing hand?  Remember how ESPN and every other talking head that liquified pigskin and injected it into their brains were discussing how Romo could play if he wore a special kind of splint or slightly altered the way that he threw the ball so it wouldn't be off target and kill some innocent spectators that just wanted to see their and FOX's favorite football team play?  Do you remember what Romo did during all that?

 He sat on the bench so his finger would heal, and he's all the better for it.

Quarterback in particular is one of those positions where you need just about every part of your body to play well, with the possible exception of a non-throwing arm- wait, no, there's that whole "holding onto the ball" thing.  Think about how a quarterback holds a football.  Think about where most of the push is going to come from when throwing the ball.  the index finger is crucial to that.  I remember people trying to reassure me that Quinn would be fine because the break was at the tip of his finger.  What?  That's even more reason to not play him!  Imagine playing that claw game you find in the corner of every movie theater arcade.  Now imagine on of the claws has been cut back an inch.  It isn't long enough or strong enough to curl around whatever it picks up.  If you can't use your fingertips to hold a football, you don't play offense.  Even with just one finger affected, especially the index finger, the grip on the ball has to change.  Try throwing a ball at a target more than 10 feet away without using your fingertips, prefferably in a room or space with nothing breakable.  And no, underhand lobs and shotput throws don't count.

Besides, an injured player spends game planning time learning how to play their opponent and learning how to not aggravate their injury.  Why not have someone healthy  take the first team snaps so that's not a factor?

Look, Derek Anderson may not be the best Pro Bowl quarterback to fall from grace to ever walk the face of the Earth, but I'd take him healthy over replacing an already injured Quinn at the end of the third quarter.  That just screws with chemistry and confidence across the board.  Then again, so does a dropped pass or five.

NOTE: If you're Ben Roethlisberger, ignore everything I said and continue working toward an early retirement.