Fryar Is Sidelined by Cut Fingers

New England Patriots wide receiver Irving Fryar cut two fingers on his right hand Wednesday and will miss Sunday’s American Football Conference championship game against the Dolphins at Miami.

New England Coach Raymond Berry said: “He has his hand in a cast and he’s out for the season.”

Fryar, a major force in the Patriots’ offense and the NFL’s leading punt returner, injured the fingers while trying to put a knife into a kitchen drawer at his home.

“He cut his fingers on a knife and suffered lacerations to his ring and small fingers,” said Dr. David Sigman, a plastic surgeon. “The ring injury is a minor laceration which was repaired. The laceration on the small finger also involved the flexor tendon at the last joint of the finger.

“A tendon injury usually involves a healing process of approximately three weeks, followed by a period of rehabilitation.”

Berry said Stephen Starring would replace Fryar at wide receiver and Roland James and Fred Marion would handle punt returns.