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Browns' Couch Done For Season

October 19, 2000 / 5:46 PM EDT / CBS/AP

His right arm wrapped nearly to the elbow, Tim Couch's heart ached as badly as his broken thumb Friday while he watched the Cleveland Browns practice without him.

Couch fractured a bone at the base of his thumb while throwing a pass on the final play of practice Thursday.

He'll have surgery shortly, and Friday he was placed on injured reserve, prematurely ending the franchise quarterback's second NFL season after only seven games.

"It's very frustrating," Couch said, after spending the morning dressed in street clothes on the sideline. "You put so much time and so much effort into something. This is the toughest thing I've ever dealt with."

Couch joined running back Errict Rhett, wide receiver JaJuan Dawson and guard Jim Pyne on injured reserve, which already included backup QB Ty Detmer.

"There are bumps in the road that test your shocks, and my shocks are getting a good workout," coach Chris Palmer said.

Couch will be replaced by Doug Pederson, an eight-year veteran who started nine games for Philadelphia but was booed incessantly by Eagles fans last season. Rookie Spergon Wynn will be the backup QB with Kevin Thompson, signed Friday, as the third-stringer.

"It's familiar ground," said Pederson, signed Sept. 1 as insurance after Detmer tore an Achilles' tendon. "I just hate to take over in this way. This is a tough situation."

Couch's thumb was broken in a freak accident when his throwing hand crashed into the hand of linebacker Ryan Taylor.

Several players had no idea how badly Couch was hurt until they got the news hours later.

"I was eating dinner at home when it came on TV," linebacker Jamir Miller said. "I was like, 'Six to eight weeks? Whoa!'"

Couch said he immediately feared he might not be able to shake off the injury.

"I knew right away it was broken," said Couch, who will seek a second doctor's opinion before having a screw or pin inserted into the thumb. "I felt it pop, then I grabbed it and it was really loose, kind of all over the place. So I knew there was a big problem with it."

Palmer apparently had a problem with Taylor, who until last week was on the team's practice squad, and might have been a little overzealous trying to impress his coaces.

"He got too close to the quarterback," Palmer said when asked if Taylor did anything wrong.

Couch said he spoke with Taylor, who was disappointed at what happened.

"He felt bad," Couch said. "He was down about it. I talked to Ryan today and told him I had no hard feelings against him and not to worry about it. It's just one of those things that happens in football. It's a fluke play."

Couch had completed nearly 64 percent of his passes this season, throwing for 1,483 yards with seven touchdowns and nine interceptions.