Jets Reveal Toon ‘Bruise’ Was Broken Back

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. —  The good news about Al Toon is that his bruised back is feeling better. The real news is that it wasn’t bruised; it was broken.

Finally, the truth comes out.

The New York Jets, ending a four-week lie, disclosed Wednesday that Toon fractured a small bone in his lower back in the third game of the season, a 30-7 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

Remarkably, Toon hasn’t missed a game. The million-dollar receiver, overcoming severe pain, has played in all four games since the injury, although he clearly wasn’t the typical Toon in the first three.

Until Wednesday, the team had described the injury as a bruised back.

“We didn’t want somebody to take a shot at him,” team spokesman Frank Ramos said. “ . . . We didn’t want anyone to know it was that serious.”

The Jets’ ploy isn’t against National Football League rules. Not reporting the full extent of an injury is permitted as long as the team correctly categorizes the player’s status, a league spokesman said.

Toon fractured a transverse process, a bone at the tip of each vertebra, attached to ligaments and tendons. It usually takes three to four weeks to heal, the team said. Toon said he was assured by the team’s medical staff that he wasn’t risking permanent damage by playing.