QUICK TAKES - March 27, 2009

Matt Lauer returned to the “Today” show on Thursday with his arm in a sling after flipping his bicycle over a deer -- only to see his playful colleagues don deer antlers.

Lauer had surgery for a separated shoulder and missed three days of work following last weekend’s Hamptons bike ride gone bad. He said he’ll be wearing the sling for six weeks.

NBC invited Tony Kornheiser of ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption,” who last week playfully suggested Lauer had faked the injury, for a mock confrontation.

If he was going to make up a story to cover up some sort of scandal, Lauer said, “I would have said a mountain lion, or Katie Couric, jumped out in front of me.”