The fight to Sunday

Bobby Wade lowered his left arm and a bone the size of a golf ball popped up out of his shoulder. When two onlookers recoiled as if they had just taken a swig of sour milk, the Vikings wide receiver smiled and did it again.

This wasn't some stupid human trick, like your double-jointed buddy who can touch his elbows behind his back. It was just another reminder of the occupational hazard NFL players face.

Wade earned his battle scar -- or battle knot? -- when he suffered a third-degree sprain of the AC joint in his shoulder returning a kickoff two seasons ago. It was the same injury Vikings defensive end Jared Allen currently is battling.

That specific injury typically sidelines players two to four weeks, but Allen has played through severe pain. He did not practice two days this week, and officially is listed as questionable, but probably will play today against the Jaguars.

The fact that Allen is even considering playing seems miraculous given how he looked in the aftermath of last week's loss at Tampa Bay. The way his arm dangled gave the impression that it could fall off. Allen's a tough guy, but even he couldn't mask the pain.

"It hurts like a son of ..." Allen said.

He stopped and gave a half-smile, half-wince.

He is not alone in his desire to fight on despite a serious injury. It happens every week on every NFL team. Take a walk around the Vikings locker room and you'll hear war stories from guys who have played on broken bones and torn ligaments just because, well, that's what the next guy is doing.

Right tackle Artis Hicks has played despite having a torn knee ligament and a partially torn triceps. Tight end Jim Kleinsasser finished the Cowboys game in 2004 after tearing an ACL in the second quarter. He also finished the Buffalo game in 2002 after suffering a tibial plateau fracture when he hyperextended his knee and cracked a bone.

Cornerback Antoine Winfield had a high ankle sprain so severe as a rookie that he could barely walk. But he didn't miss a game. Safety Darren Sharper has played despite having torn knee ligaments and a shoulder injury that required surgery after the season. The list goes on and on.

Some players survive by taking weekly pain-killing injections, while others wear braces, harnesses and casts. It's just a fact of life in the league.

"At this point in the season, there's not one player who has played any snaps healthy," Winfield said. "You're going to have to fight through injuries. It's always a fight to Sunday."

Vikings coach Brad Childress uses that phrase a lot. Fight to Sunday. It encapsulates the mindset that players -- particularly ones with injuries -- endure Monday through Saturday to get their bodies healthy enough to play on Sunday.

Kleinsasser, a 10-year veteran, said players become acutely aware of their pain threshold and the "next-guy-in" nature of the NFL.

"Once you get a few years under your belt, you realize what you can and can't play with," he said. "The other thing is, you kind of realize how the league is. You have to keep your butt on the field or else you're not going to be here very long. You're fighting for your family when you're out there. There's always guys lined up down the street waiting to take your job."

'Whatever it takes'

Few understand the power of mind over body better than former Vikings defensive end Jim Marshall, who never missed a game in 20 seasons, a streak of 282 consecutive games. Ask Marshall about his injuries and you'll need to clear your schedule. The worst, he said, was a hyperextended knee. He can't recall the year, but he sure remembers the pain.

"Back in those days we could come in and get a little [pain-killing] shot in there," he said. "Whenever there was something that was hurting me to the extent that it was going to affect my play, I would shoot it up. That's the way we used to play. ... Whatever it takes to win and [you] suffer the consequences Sunday night and Monday and Tuesday and sometimes Wednesday."

Wade said he received pain-killing injections before six consecutive games after his shoulder injury, which happened when he fell during a kickoff return. He described the pain as "excruciating."

"There's absolutely no way you can play without some type of anesthetic to calm it down," he said. "It numbs that shoulder up."

Wade, who has also played with torn cartilage in his knee and a torn labrum, would not practice during the week because of his shoulder injury, but he managed to play on Sundays. He said it took several months after the season before his shoulder was strong enough to lift weights.

"I wanted to play because it was a contract year so you're fighting for that," he said. "Even for Jared, his situation is we're fighting for a playoff spot. He's a true example of a team player. There are a lot of guys in here playing with injuries now."

That, according to Hicks, is all the motivation a player needs.

"If you're 50-50, you can go," he said. "That's the mindset that you have to have. It's not like you have pressure on you to do it. It's just when you see other guys do it, year in and year out, all you can ask is to be another guy who is respected as a warrior in that locker room."

The will to play

The fight to Sunday requires as much diligence as film study and practice time. Childress said it's not uncommon for players to get up to 10 treatments a day. That's just when they're at work. Many players own a device called Game Ready, which provides cold therapy and compression through a sleeve. The device helps reduce swelling and acts as a pain reliever.

Sharper goes a step farther and spends up to two hours a day in his hyperbaric (oxygen) chamber, which he says helps his recovery. But he said it ultimately comes down to will.

"It's a guy's nature," Sharper said. "If you're a tough guy you play through injuries. I think you have to be born with that."

Former Vikings head athletic trainer Chuck Barta used an analogy of a guy getting a sliver in his hand. Some constantly pick at it, while others keep right on working.

"It's astonishing to see what they can play with," said Barta, who is now clinic supervisor at Fairview Sports and Orthopedic Care in Rogers. "They're able to take it and put it out of their mind. Some individuals can do it and some can't."

Kleinsasser said adrenaline acts as a salve. But he agreed that dealing with an injury often becomes a mind game.

"If you've got an injury that you're playing with through the year, it's just about getting your mindset right and telling yourself that you're going to play and you're going to be effective," he said. "A lot of times when you get injured, your mind kind of tries to tell you, 'No, you can't do this.'"

Allen seemed to be experiencing that inner struggle as he milled about the locker room in Tampa last Sunday. He was the last player to leave, emerging from the trainer's room with his right arm immobilized in a sling.

"It will be back to another week of rehabbing," Allen said, before walking toward the door.