Browns safety T.J. Ward isn't going to let a small thing like a broken thumb keep him from playing Oct. 7 against the Giants.

Or a plate protecting nine screws inserted into the bone.

Ward said he broke his right thumb on Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith as he tackled him in the first quarter of Baltimore's eventual 23-16 victory in Week 4 Sept. 27. Ward played the rest of the game, and with the 10-day layoff between games, feels confident he can still make an impact as the Browns seek their first win of the season.

Ward had surgery soon after the Thursday night game, and will play in the absence of Tashaun Gipson, who has been ruled out with a knee injury.

He insists nothing about his game will change.

"You just don't think about it," he told the Cleveland Plain-Dealer's Mary-Kay Cabot. "You just have to play normal. It's a thumb. It's not like my whole arm is gone. I'm going to play like I normally do. It'll be casted. It is what it is."