Fiedler Is Sidelined by Broken Thumb

Miami Dolphin quarterback Jay Fiedler will sit out at least four weeks because of a broken right thumb.

Fiedler underwent surgery Monday, Dolphin trainer Kevin O’Neill said. Ray Lucas will start at quarterback against Buffalo on Sunday.

Fiedler was injured with about 3:30 left in Miami’s victory over Denver on Sunday night. He hit his throwing hand on a helmet while completing a five-yard pass to Ricky Williams.

Fiedler remained in the game and played the final series, setting up Olindo Mare’s 53-yard winning field goal with two completions totaling 39 yards in the final seconds.

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Chicago Bear running back Anthony Thomas helped pull a man from a burning car.

The 2001 rookie of the year was on his way to visit teammate David Terrell late Sunday when he saw a smoldering car on the road.

“The car was smoking at first, but it wasn’t really on fire,” Thomas said. “But when I got there and I pulled over, it sounded like, ‘Boom!’ and then a tire popped and a big fire blew out.

“When you see a car fire you never know if it’s going to blow up or not. So the main thing, I was trying to get the guy away from the car and get me and my wife away from the car.”

No one was injured. Police said Monday their report on the incident was not available.

The Bears had a bye Sunday.

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Carolina Panther quarterback Rodney Peete will have surgery today on his right knee and will be sidelined at least three weeks, making Chris Weinke the starter again. Coach John Fox said Peete had been playing with torn cartilage in the knee.... Kansas City Chief defensive tackle Ryan Sims, the sixth pick in this year’s draft, is probably out for the season because of a broken elbow suffered in the Chiefs’ loss to San Diego on Sunday.... Jacksonville Jaguar right tackle Maurice Williams is out for the season because of a broken right leg. He will have surgery Wednesday.... Green Bay Packer left tackle Chad Clifton has a torn knee ligament and is expected to sit out one to three weeks.

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Steve Spurrier backed off his criticism of his players, and instead directed some toward the officials.

The Washington Redskins’ coach said he was “probably a little too critical, too harsh” when he accused some of the players of not caring about the game Sunday, when the Redskins lost to the New Orleans Saints, 43-27.

“I still believe we are a pretty good team -- when we play like it,” Spurrier said. “We’ve only played like it twice this year. We’ve got to try to regroup and play like we know what we’re doing most of the time.”

Spurrier said he wants a better job from the officials, violating his usual self-imposed policy of not talking about the officiating after a loss.

“We’re getting a lot of these little calls that nobody sees anything that happens,” Spurrier said. “You see a flag at the end of the play -- it has nothing to do with the play -- and yet we’re getting them.”