Erik Gudbranson will be able to play in Thursday's game without the protective cage he has been forced to wear since breaking an orbital bone in December. Believe it or not, one of the reasons advanced for Gudbranson's poor play the last month that has led to multiple healthy scratches has been the fact that he was wearing a cage on his helmet. Now tha the cage is off we will see if that makes any difference in Gudbranson's play. We're skeptical.