49ers Might Use Brohm at Quarterback

Steve Young’s groin injury remains a chronic problem and Elvis Grbac is bothered by a shoulder strain, leaving a chance the San Francisco 49ers could go to Houston next Sunday with third-stringer Jeff Brohm at quarterback.

Coach George Seifert on Monday said Young, who played through the injury and led a second-half rally in San Francisco’s 28-21 victory over Cincinnati on Sunday, was still sore from the effort.

Grbac had relieved an obviously hurting Young in the second quarter, only to go down because of the left shoulder injury moments before halftime when he was tackled at the end of a scramble. He underwent an MRI test that revealed the strain in his non-throwing shoulder, and Seifert said Grbac probably would not be able to practice much, if at all, this week.

“I’m really up in the air as far as [the starting quarterback] is concerned, which seems to be customary around here the last few weeks,” Seifert said. “I have to see how Elvis comes along and see how Steve is. If Steve can function like he did in the second half of that game, I believe he would be the starter.”

Brohm, a second-year player out of Louisville who was picked up by San Francisco last December after being released by San Diego earlier in the year, has appeared in two games and completed two of four passes for 13 yards.

The 49ers received more bad news Monday. J.J. Stokes’ wrist injury is more serious than originally thought and the 49er wide receiver could sit out five weeks, maybe more.

Stokes dislocated his right wrist last Thursday during practice. At first, it was believed Stokes could return in about two weeks.

“What happened is when you put those bones in place, there’s ligaments and tendons that are stretched and they’ve got to heal,” Seifert said. “And that’s going to be a longer process than originally expected. So we could be looking at four or five weeks, maybe more.”

The 49ers put Nate Singleton on injured reserve, finishing him for the season. Singleton broke his collarbone Sept. 8 against St. Louis.

Mark Harris, who played at Stanford, was promoted from the practice squad to the 53-man roster.

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Tampa Bay Buccaneer receiver Alvin Harper lost a portion of the tip of one of his fingers when an assistant trainer inadvertently cut him with a pair of scissors.

The injury occurred before practice last Friday, and the sixth-year pro sat out Sunday’s 13-9 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Neither team officials nor the player released details about the incident until Monday.

“It was just a freak accident,” Harper said, describing how assistant trainer Jo-Jo Petrone sliced the tip of his left middle finger while taping the palm of the receiver’s right hand.

“It was just a simple cut . . . but anybody could have done that. He’s a good trainer. Even the top trainers in the world or top doctors in the world could have made a mistake like that.”

Harper said he was holding the tape for Petrone to wrap the right hand when the assistant trainer apparently caught his left middle finger with the scissors and cut it at an angle.

“I didn’t even feel it when it happened. I saw blood and said, ‘Aw man, it’s cut,’ ” he said.

“The top of the nail is cut off and some of the top of it is cut off. The best thing about it is they say the nail is going to grow back over it. So it really won’t be deformed or anything.”

Harper did not receive stitches for the new injury.

“They couldn’t do anything. There wasn’t anything to stitch,” said Harper, who said he plans to play this week at Green Bay. “They couldn’t find the little piece that he cut off.”

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The Carolina Panthers released running back Leroy Hoard, one day after Anthony Johnson had his third consecutive 100-yard rushing game to help Carolina improve to 5-2 with a 19-7 victory over the New Orleans Saints.

Hoard, 28, signed with Carolina as a free agent on Oct. 1, two days after the Panthers lost halfback Tshimanga Biakabutuka, their top draft choice, because of a season-ending knee injury.

But Hoard, who had been released by Baltimore on Sept. 24, had difficulty latching on with Carolina in large part because of the productivity of Johnson.

“We didn’t know how Anthony Johnson would respond,” Panther Coach Dom Capers said. “And Anthony Johnson has obviously responded very well. And we like Dino Philyaw as our backup running back. He’s been with us all through training camp.”

Hoard carried once for no gain against Minnesota and four times for 11 yards against the Rams. He played against the Saints but did not carry the ball.

“Where Leroy stacked up on our team was either the third or fourth running back,” Capers said. “And we just felt it was in the best interests, if Leroy was going to be the fourth running back, to go ahead and make that roster move.”