Cox Chooses to Play With Broken Thumb

Chicago Bear linebacker Bryan Cox met with doctors, went through a series of tests and then decided Wednesday to delay surgery on his broken thumb. That way he can play Sunday against Tampa Bay.

“I’ll play as long as they allow me to stay in the game,� Cox said Wednesday in Lake Forest, Ill

The surgery he expected to have Friday, which would have forced him out of Sunday’s game, will now take place Monday. He’ll probably then miss the next four weeks, Bear Coach Dave Wannstedt said.

Cox broke his thumb Monday night against Minnesota.

So why play at all, especially against the lowly Buccaneers?

“I just feel now is the time for the team to make strides in the right direction and I want to be out there playing,� said Cox, who will wear a big cast to protect a thumb broken in three places.

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Washington Redskin backup center Cory Raymer will be sidelined four to six weeks because of injuries suffered in a Tuesday automobile accident.

Raymer, 23, was admitted to Arlington Hospital on Wednesday with a fractured vertebra in his lower back, a bruised kidney and a severely sprained shoulder.

Raymer was driving Redskins guard Brian Thure and two other passengers home from a fishing trip Tuesday afternoon when his 1995 GMC overturned after swerving to avoid another car near Colonial Beach, Va. The other driver, William Earl Roy, 80, was charged with reckless driving.

Thure, 23, has badly bruised knees, ankles and ribs as well as a sore neck, but was not admitted. He was already on injured reserve. A third passenger, Hugo Garcia, 26, a strength and conditioning intern at Redskin Park, remained at Fairfax Hospital with facial cuts and bruises.

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San Francisco quarterback Steve Young resumed practicing, and barring any setbacks from the concussion that knocked him out of the 49ers’ last game, will be in the starting lineup Sunday at New Orleans.

Coach George Seifert said Young will be re-examined by doctors before the game. Also expected to return this week is Young’s backup, Elvis Grbac, inactive at Houston because of a left shoulder strain.

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Quarterback Warren Moon hasn’t abandoned playing against Kansas City on Sunday despite a badly sore right ankle, but the Minnesota Vikings seem more inclined to start backup Brad Johnson. . . . Carolina Panther center Curtis Whitley has been suspended for four games for an alcohol-related problem. “As we speak, he is undergoing medical treatment,� General Manager Bill Polian said in Charlotte. Whitley, 27, will be eligible to return to the active roster on Nov. 25. . . . The New Orleans Saints will begin the search for Jim Mora’s permanent replacement in 30 days, owner Tom Benson said. “I think there might be a lot of coaching changes this year, just looking around the league a little bit,� Benson said. “I believe we might have an opportunity to be out front of everybody else.� Rick Venturi, named interim coach after Mora’s resignation, will be considered based on the Saints’ performance the rest of the season, Benson said.