If an entire city holds its breath, does everything in that city turn purple?

Will the city ultimately “pass out?” (Which I guess would be manifested in power outages, stalled cares, and the like…)

Will bloggers strain to adequately develop forced metaphors instead of getting right to the point?

Well, we’re going to find out, because the entire city of Indianapolis is about to hold its collective breath while it awaits the results of yet another Bob Sanders visit to see Dr. James Andrews.

The Colts’ D has already been killed by injuries this year and we saw during the team’s Super Bowl run a few years ago just how vital Bob Sanders is to their chances.

Of course, Sanders has only been healthy for a couple of games this year and the Colts have been able to shoot out of the gates with an undefeated record. Don’t be fooled though; this team is not making a deep run in January without its superstar strong safety, especially when you consider the guys they’ve already lost on D.

Peyton Manning is incredible, but probably not that incredible.

So Big MB and the rest of the Circle City waits to exhale.

Update: Uh oh. Looks like Colts fans can exhale, but only so they can begin hyperventilating. According to PFT, Bob Sanders needs elbow surgery and will be out indefinitely.

I root for two teams: first, the Cleveland Browns, who I grew to cheer for over the past 7-8 years; and second, the Miami Dolphins, who I grew up cheering for.

After yesterday, it appears that neither of my favorite teams has a quarterback any longer.

First, in Cleveland, anointed starter Brady Quinn played so poorly through the first ten quarters of 2009 that he was benched in favor of a guy, Derek Anderson, who played so poorly last year that he was benched after being given a contract extension.

Then, during the Dolphins’ loss to the Chargers, Chad Pennington — a revelation last year during his first season in Miami — went down with an injury and was replaced by Chad Henne. The young QB from Michigan sputtered and could not lead the Dolphins to victory, and now it appears that Pennington could be out for the season.

Ugh.

And double ugh.

According to ESPN’s Chris Mortenson, the latest injury update on Chad Pennington is that he has a torn capsule in his throwing shoulder. Mort’s sources are telling him that Pennington will not return in 2009.

He is reportedly seeking a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews, but no one is apparently optimistic that said second opinion will yield results any different from the first.

This is now the third time that Pennington has dealt with significant injuries to his throwing shoulder. And for a guy who already had questionable arm strength, this injury can’t bode well for his future as a starting quarterback in the NFL.

I’ll update this post if there is anything new to report on Pennington, but it doesn’t sound optimistic.

As for the Browns…well there isn’t really much to say. Eric Mangini has, predictably, refused to name a starting QB for next week’s home game against Cincinnati. I guess he figures that with our offense looking so horrendously pathetic through three games, not naming a starter is the only possible advantage he has…no matter how infinitesimally small of an advantage it provides.

When both of your quarterbacks are playing like garbage, and getting no help from the other ten guys on offense, the truth is that it probably doesn’t matter who Mangini names.

Heck, at this point, Chad Pennington — right now, injured — might be a better option for the Browns.

It’s too bad the Browns and Dolphins don’t play eachother this year.  At least then I’d know that one of them is guaranteed to win a game this season.

Thanks for reading. Excuse me while I lay my head down on my keyboard and cry.

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* – Chad Pennington photo credit: Donald Miralle/Getty Images via Bleacher Report

First, regarding Brett Favre’s inevitable 2009 comeback.  PFT is reporting today that Brett Favre is planning to visit Dr. James Andrews on Tuesday and that Favre is expected to have surgery to repair his partially torn biceps tendon.  The PFT report comes via Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (via a link I clicked on but could not get to work).

The surgery is expected to sideline Favre (pictured left way back on his draft day…sporting some killer rolled up jean shorts) for 6-8 weeks, meaning he’d be ready for training camp but it would give him a convenient excuse to miss all of the other offseason activities for whatever team he decides to play for.

Of course, this report comes out on the same day that Favre’s agent Bus Cook said that there was no basis for all of the speculation regarding a potential Favre comeback.  Riiiight.  So Favre is going to have surgery just because.  It has nothing to do with getting ready for next season.  Okay Bus.

Anyway, in related news, Favre is also expected to have Dr. Andrews take an X-Ray of his soul.  It is expected that nothing will be found.

The other big story making the rounds in the NFL today was the surprising announcement that Tony Kornheiser was stepping down from his third banana post on Monday Night Football.  Replacing him will be Jon Gruden, who made his love for ESPN known a few years ago when he uttered the following statement (via Deadspin):

“I don’t watch ESPN. I don’t believe half the [expletive] people on the channel, personally – no disrespect. But if Bruce Gradkowski is throwing games in Toledo, how in the hell does he lead the NCAA in passing percentages? That is a crock. You know, these reports make me sick – really. I don’t believe [there is] any truth to it, and I’ll go to my grave believing that. I hope ESPN 3 or 4 has real sources behind this story, because it has nothing to do with the kid. He’s a great kid. He wants to be great. This is very uncharacteristic, in my opinion, of ‘professional’ journalism.”

Isn’t irony a beautiful thing?

I have to say this though: I like the move.  I’m a big fan of Tony Kornheiser, but I think he was horribly miscast at MNF.  So whether his dismissal was really a personal choice because he hated flying (unlikely) or whether he was pushed out by the suits at the WWL (very likely, considering they announced Gruden’s arrival about 30 seconds later), it’s a good move all around.  And I thought that Jon Gruden did a great job during the NFL Network’s coverage of the draft, as I said immediately afterwards.

So at least this story has a happy ending.  The Favre story?  Not to so much…because there never is an ending.

After meeting with renowned hand specialist, Dr. James Andrews in Birmingam Ala. Tuesday, Brady Quinn and the Cleveland Browns have determined that Quinn will be out for the rest of the season due to his fractured right index finger which Quinn injured in Buffalo Nov. 17.

Despite the injury, Brady Quinn started against the Houston Texans at Cleveland Browns Stadium on Sunday, but was pulled late in the third quarter after throwing his second interception.

Quinn refused to let his injury be an excuse for his 8 for 18 pass completion performance, but former Cleveland Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar told WKNR 850 Monday that “Quinn just did not look right” playing on Sunday.

Head Coach Romeo Crennel told the media prior to Sunday’s game that Brady Quinn would start because the Browns specialists said he was OK to go.

But when Dr. Andrews examined Quinn, he determined that the tendon had actually gotten worse and would cause further damage if Quinn continued trying to throw.

Derek Anderson, who lost his job to Quinn prior to the Denver Broncos game, is expected to start against the Indianapolis Colts at Cleveland Browns Stadium on Sunday, the last home game of the season.

(Editor’s Update: Perhaps Derek Anderson will not start on Sunday.  Follow the link to see the Top 10 Candidates to Replace Brady Quinn at QB for the Browns.)

[tags]brady quinn, cleveland browns, nfl[/tags]

Why can’t 48 hours pass without some sort of controversial story about the Cleveland Browns?

Seriously.

ESPN.com is reporting that quarterback Brady Quinn, who has been suffering from an injured index finger on his throwing hand, has flown to Birmingham, Alabama to receive a second opinion on the severity of the injury from Dr. James Andrews.

You may know Dr. James Andrews from the 97,431 other stories in the past few years about athletes visiting him. This guy is like some sort of oracle or magical faith healer (or, just a really good orthopedic surgeon, I suppose). His name is also the most dreaded sound in the world of fantasy football. If your player is visiting Dr. James Andrews, it is rarely a good sign.

The news that Brady Quinn is traveling to see the magic doctor is surprising. While Romeo Crennel said that he thought Quinn’s injury was affecting his play somewhat on Sunday, resulting in Crennel benching Brady Quinn for Derek Anderson in the second half, Quinn steadfastly denied that the finger was a problem.

Yet, now he’s flying down to see Dr. James Andrews.

Hmm…not really sure what to make of this. The interesting part is that, according to the ESPN.com story, Quinn flew down to Alabama on his own initiative. The story does not say whether Quinn told the Browns he was going, but it certainly seems to allude to the possibility that he did not.

Honestly, it would not really surprise me if Quinn just went on his own. It was pretty obvious that he was pissed off that Crennel benched him on Sunday, and the Browns do not exactly have the most successful record when it comes to medical matters. Something tells me Brady did not want to be skipping over to the Cleveland Clinic in anything less than a HazMat suit.

It shall be interesting to see what comes of this. First off, hopefully the finger is okay and does not require any further surgery. Nothing against Derek Anderson (hell, I cheered when they put him in Sunday…before reflecting on it and realizing it was a poor decision) but the Browns need Brady Quinn to start the next five games. We have to see what we have in him, and he needs the experience. Any setback due to injury would be disastrous in terms of planning for next year.

Secondly, I will be interested to see if the Browns have a comment. It doesn’t exactly look good when your franchise QB is flying on his own to get second opinions on his injury and, ostensibly, not including the team in the decision.

Either way, the Browns play the Colts this weekend, and would get smoked even if John Elway was playing quarterback if the defense cannot do a better job against Peyton Manning than they did against…ugh…Sage Rosenfels. But hopefully Brady is back from Birmingham with a positive opinion of Dr. James Andrews. The Browns need him under center as they play out the string and plan for the future.