With Vernon Adams' broken index finger, Ducks should start Jeff Lockie this weekend

We all know Oregon doesn't talk about injuries, but Vernon Adams clearly wasn't himself on Saturday night during Oregon's 31-28 loss to Michigan State on the road. As it turns out, Adams was playing with a broken index finger, according to Aaron Fentress of Comcast Sportsnet Northwest.

Against the fifth-ranked Spartans, Adams looked uncomfortable in the pocket all night long. His decision making wasn't crisp and he struggled to make accurate passes all night. As a result, Adams threw two interceptions and had a QBR of just 39.5. If Adams had been healthy, would he have completed that late pass attempt to Byron Marshall that instead sailed over his head into the end zone? We'll never know.

But what we do know is that Adams isn't at 100 percent, and likely won't be for some time. Broken fingers typically take several weeks to heal on their own, but most people aren't playing quarterback for the Oregon Ducks with a broken finger.

So that brings up a new question. With a game coming this weekend against Georgia State, should the Ducks give Adams the week off to help with the healing process? The answer is yes.

Let's be honest. This game against Georgia State is going to be a blowout that's over midway through the first quarter. Adams would probably get more out of practice than he would this actual game. All the Ducks would be doing by starting Adams is playing with fire. Can you imagine what would happen if Adams took a sack, or had his hand hit by a defender, and further injured his finger? How would the coaches respond to knowingly playing an injured quarterback against an FCS opponent if Adams was lost for weeks, or even the season? There's playing hurt (which football players do just about every week as the season goes on) and then there's playing injured. This is the latter.

Jeff Lockie is fully capable of leading this team. From the sounds of it, he had the best camp of his career, and you know he's ready to go if called upon. The Ducks should play it safe and let Lockie take the reigns for a week. Otherwise, they'll be putting the health of their star transfer in jeopardy, and they'll need Adams at 100 percent when the Pac-12 schedule ramps up.