Congratulations to the Tennessee Titans for making it back into the playoffs. Vince Young, the explosive quarterback, was knocked out of the game when he reinjured his quadriceps. This is a repeat of an injury he suffered earlier this year. Luckily, the Titans has Kerry Collins to come in and wrap up the game.

According to news reports, Vince Young should be able to practice with the team and will play in their playoff game. So what gives? If he was hurt enough to be pulled out of the game, how can he come back and play a week later?

The mouth that is Terrell Ownes is out in the regular season finale with the Washington Redskins with a high ankle sprain. Terrell Owens being does increase the chances the Redskins will mkae the playoffs, but I am sure Terrell will talk about it before the game, during the game and after the game. The sprain isn't high enough to cover his mouth.

Ok, enough with the hating.

Terrell's high ankle injury isn't a laughing matter. 90% of your normal ankle sprains occur when you turn in on your foot. The rest are your high ankle sprains when you turn it outside.

What are the symptoms of a high ankle sprain? Limited movement to the outside of your foot is a good sign in addition to normal ankle sprain symptoms. This includes swelling, tenderness and not being able to fully support your weight.

Nathan Vasher, the exceptional cornerback from the Chicago Bears, has been placed on the injured reserve. This doesn't really mean anything since the Bears aren't in the playoffs and only have one game left. Vasher did have a good game against the Vikings a couple of weeks back, but he was held out in last week's contest against the Packers.

What's the best way to become a better quarterback in the NFL? play! Play! PLAY! You need the experience of the game to propel you forward. But, if your name is Alex Smith you're in trouble. Alex Smith is the third year quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers and he has a separated shoulder.

There has to be a joke in here somewhere about how Marvin Lewis tore the tendons in his ankle. Something along the lines of, "Marvin Lewis injured himself while preventing Odell Thurman from driving drunk." You know, the whole jail Bengals thing.

Alas, it's not that funny, though you can imagine different scenarios. Lewis is mum, so you have to use your own creative imagination. 

One wonders who is going to be the one to put their foot in the ass of Chad Johnson for the next few weeks. Ok, seriously, that was the last one.

Pitt's a college football team on the verge of doing well, so it was bad news today that a very aggressive freshman named Chris Jacobson dislocated his knee cap. Chris is an offensive lineman and was competing for a starting job on the offensive line.

The injury happened during a pass rush drill. Coach Dave Wannstedt said:

We'll see what happens and try to get him back as quick as we can. Nothing will be decided how long he'll be out until after the surgery.

This is good news that he might not miss the season, but as a true freshmen it might be better to shut him down for the year.

Football is the most violent sanctioned sport in the world. It's more violent than boxing and hockey, which are the two sports almost always argued about. The players in the NFL are compensated well for the time they make their bodies sacrificial pulped edifices for our enjoyment. When their careers are over many suffer lifelong diabilities.

To combat this a group called Gridiron Greats was formed to fight for benefits and support. As their website says:

The organization focuses on the humanitarian side of post-football related issues, providing hands-on assistance to help retired players deal with hardships they may face after football

It's amazing that in an industry that continues to generate billions of dollars a year there would be a need for an organization like this.

Shaun Alexander, who won the NFL MVP in 2005, cracked a joke about his broken foot a few weeks ago. It caused a major stir in the Seattle press, and the hopes and dreams of thousands of fantasy football owners stopped.

Alexander was talking about playing with a cracked foot. Here's what he said:

I don't want to get another X-ray until after this camp. If the X-ray shows it's still cracked, it's like, 'OK, what does that mean?' 

So, the question becomes can you play football with a broken foot. Sure, if the break is more like a small fracture and it's not on a heavy load bearing part of the foot. Most football players, though, will be impacted by a broken foot of any measure for the following reasons:

Well, I'm not happy to say it, but I was right about Matt Hasselbeck. It turns out that he and the Seahawks we're lying about his previous injury. It turns out that Hasselbeck actually went through eight games with broken fingers.

We said then:

Will this affect Matt Hasselbeck? I feel it's going to affect his snaps. Looks for a couple of fumbles from him.

How do you like that? Not only did the team lie about his injury, but they tried to cover it up. And yes, it did affect him regardless of what the Seattle Seahawks say:

On Sunday against the Bears, Hasselbeck was hit from behind following a throw early in the game and held his hand while in obvious pain. On fourth-and-1 with Seattle in Chicago territory and two minutes left in regulation, Hasselbeck bobbled the snap. That ruined the timing on Shaun Alexander's run, resulting in a 2-yard loss and leading to overtime.

Matt Hasselbeck of the Seattle Seahawks is having a tough year. He's been injured before, but now he has a broken hand. The broken hand is on his non-throwing hand, but it can affect performance during the snap from center. Of course, the Seattle Seahawks are acting like it's not going to be a problem. Will it?

Mike Holmgren, head coach of the Seattle Sehawks, thinks folks are blowing it out of proportion:

"Goodness gracious. I mean, I'd be the last one to be critical of these Watergate-type investigative reporters, because I think that was a very important time in our history. It was important that story came out.

THIS, however, is not one of those situations. ... So in an effort to 'break the big one,' I am going on record saying this is not that big a deal. OK?"