Aldridge: Thumb Well-Protected; I’m Back for Season

One day after his decision to play through the pain paid off just as he’d hoped, (LaMarcus) Aldridge — whose six-to-eight-week absence had been announced by the team and seemed to be set in stone — gave a hearty thumbs-up about his status for the foreseeable future.”(The thumb is) a little sore, but not too bad,” Aldridge told USA TODAY Sports by phone Sunday.

“This wasn’t a one-game thing,” Aldridge said. “Once I said I was going to try, then I was back. And if it became too much, then I was going to have surgery. … So as of now, I’m back. But if I get it whacked or if something happens where I can’t tolerate it and I’m not playing at a good enough level to help the team, then I’ll have surgery. But as of now, I think they have done a good job of protecting it, so I’m back for the season and then I’ll just have surgery in the offseason.”

via Sam Amick of USA TODAY Sports