Rams’ Warner Passing His First Test

A day after two surgical pins were removed from his finger, St. Louis Ram quarterback Kurt Warner started throwing again.

The defending Super Bowl champions are 2-2 without Warner, who suffered a broken little finger of his throwing hand in the first half of the Rams’ Oct. 22 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Although the 1999 NFL most valuable player said he feels good, he’s not expected back until Dec. 3 against the Carolina Panthers.

Warner threw in practice, but team doctors don’t want him to take any snaps until next week to avoid re-injuring the finger.

Coach Mike Martz said Warner needs to build strength in his hand before he can return. He said a return next week is not a “slam dunk.”

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Former San Francisco 49er quarterback John Brodie, who suffered a major stroke last month, was discharged from a rehabilitation center and will celebrate Thanksgiving with his family.

“He’s home, he came home today, and he’s going to be working from here,” Brodie’s wife, Sue, said from the family home in La Quinta. “He’s doing really well. He is walking, he’s made really rapid progress in all other areas.”

Brodie, 65, was taken to the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage in critical condition Oct. 24. He began experiencing symptoms of a stroke a night earlier.

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Minnesota Viking tight end John Davis was suspended by the team for today’s game against the Dallas Cowboys for breaking curfew earlier this week.

The tight end was arrested in Wayzata, Minn., early Monday and charged with driving while intoxicated after police found him asleep inside a car parked on a country road. The car was running, and Davis was charged with drunken driving, failure to submit to chemical testing and reckless driving.

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In a move that seemed totally out of character, embattled Coach Jim Fassel guaranteed that the slumping New York Giants will make the playoffs.

“I am raising the stakes right now,” he said. “If this is a poker game, I am shoving my chips right in the middle of the table. I am raising the ante. Anybody who wants out, can get out. This team is going to the playoffs. OK? This team is going to the playoffs.”

The Giants (7-4) seemed headed to the team’s first playoff berth since 1997 until they were embarrassed at home the last two weeks in losses to the Rams and the Detroit Lions.

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Jake Plummer’s ribs were so sore that he could hardly draw a deep breath, let alone practice, and the Arizona Cardinal quarterback was listed as questionable for Sunday night’s game against the Giants.