Saints quarterback Tyler Shough has been playing with two broken bones in his left hand, according to ESPN's reporting, and the left hand is his non-throwing hand. That distinction is the whole story. A quarterback can throw with a broken bone in his off hand. He cannot as easily take a snap, mesh a handoff or sell a play-action fake with it.
The evidence is in his most recent stat line: 16-of-30 for 144 yards, 4.8 yards per attempt, three touchdowns, no interceptions, a 99.9 passer rating. He also ran five times for 32 yards and a score, with a long of 25.
Read that line closely. Three touchdowns against 144 passing yards is a red-zone stat line, not a downfield one. A 99.9 rating next to 4.8 yards an attempt is a quarterback being asked to play small: quick throws, screens, tight-window work near the goal line, and nothing that requires setting his feet and driving the ball past the sticks. Chris Olave's four catches for 43 yards and a touchdown fit that shape. So does Devaughn Vele's three for 42.
The precedent is Brett Favre, who played through a broken thumb on his throwing hand in 2003 and never missed a start. Favre is the proof that a quarterback can function with a broken hand bone. He's also the proof it costs something, because Favre's numbers dipped and the offense compressed around him. The difference here is location. Favre's damage was to the hand that grips and rips. Shough's is to the hand that absorbs the snap.
My read on the usage is the part that should bother Saints fans. Kendre Miller got 20 carries for 70 yards, a 3.5 average. Alvin Kamara got seven carries for 34 and added two catches for 35 and a touchdown. That split is backwards for a team with a compromised quarterback. Kamara is the healthiest, most reliable thing in this offense, and he touched the ball seven times on the ground and twice through the air. I'd have him near 18 to 20 touches while Shough heals.
I expect New Orleans to keep the passing plan compressed and lean harder on Kamara between the tackles. What would prove me wrong is a Shough game with real throws outside the numbers and air under them. Then the hand is decoration and I've overread the sample.
Playing is the right call only if the game plan protects him. This one protects the interception column. That's not the same thing.
