Major Injuries In Week 5

Jake Delhomme last week called surgery on his strained right elbow "a last resort."
After experiencing pain trying to throw on Monday, the Carolina Panthers quarterback decided the worst-case scenario couldn't be avoided. Delhomme will have season-ending ligament-replacement surgery on his elbow next week, leaving the Panthers without their leader on offense and scrambling to find another quarterback.

Thanks to a conflict in sports schedules at the Trent Green household, his wife was spared the scary sight of him face down and motionless on the field in Houston. When the Miami Dolphins quarterback was knocked unconscious by a severe concussion that could end his career, wife Julie was back home in South Florida at a tennis match with their children. "She was listening to the game with an earpiece, but she didn't have to sit and watch," Dolphins coach Cam Cameron said Monday. "By the time she got home to see it, he was off the field, so that's a blessing."
Green's concussion was diagnosed as grade three, the most severe, and he'll undergo further tests to determine his future. He has been ruled out of Sunday's game at Cleveland, and Cameron declined to discuss the possibility the injury will force the 37-year-old Green to retire.
"I don't think we really know the full extent, because there are some ongoing tests," Cameron said. "Right now I just think there are too many unknowns." Cleo Lemon, who replaced Green at Houston, will make his second NFL start against the Browns. Second-round draft pick John Beck becomes the backup.

Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden joked Monday that he thinks he has the phone number for Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders. But the situation at tailback is hardly a laughing matter for the Bucs, with the loss of Michael Pittman to an ankle injury suffered during the team's loss at Indianapolis on Sunday afternoon. Pittman will miss 6-8 weeks, Gruden acknowledged, and his absence will likely force the Bucs to add a veteran tailback either through free agency or in a trade. Fourth-year veteran back Earnest Graham, a former undrafted college free agent form the University of Florida, now becomes the starter. The backup will be rookie Kenneth Darby, who was elevated from the practice squad last week. A 10th-year veteran, Pittman suffered the injury in the fourth quarter at the end of a four-yard run. Tampa Bay officials characterized the injury as a severe sprain, Pittman was undergoing further tests on Monday and the suspicion is that he suffered a cracked fibula. Tampa Bay lost starting tailback Cadillac Williams to a ruptured patella tendon last week. He has already undergone surgery, been placed on injured reserve, and now faces a lengthy rehabilitation period that could extend into next summer.

All articles are AP ESPN articles.