For the past two games he's worn a thumb splint, which hinders his ability to squeeze the ball but protects the injury.

Arceneaux said he needs to adjust the position of his hands while catching the ball to prevent it from hitting the split. The velocity and location of the pass dictate how he catches the ball.

"It's tough; you just got to adjust and find ways around it, position your hands a different way so you can avoid the cast and avoid putting any pressure on the thumb," Arceneaux said.

Arceneaux, the team leader with 62 receptions and 1,001 yards, will lead the Islanders (8-6) when they face the Central Valley Coyotes (1-13) in an arenafootball2 game today at Fresno, Calif. Kickoff for the West Division game is 4:30 p.m. HST.

Arceneaux injured the thumb in a 40-37 road victory over the San Diego Riptide on July 3. Arceneaux was playing defensive back at the time.

"I was coming up on a hitch (pattern) at the end of the game," he said. "I just came up and tackled the guy, and as I tried to wrap him up my thumb kind of jammed. It was almost like a fluke accident."

Islanders head coach Cal Lee isn't worried about Arceneaux's new catching technique.

"I really don't care how they catch it," he said. "It's like a baseball player, if he's throwing strikes I don't care if it's underhand. If he's comfortable with it, then I'm comfortable with it."

ANTHONY ARCENEAUX

"(Haslip) tried to cut back across the field, I shed one block and when I hit the blocker my chin strap came off and as I came to tackle him my helmet slid down and the face mask bar knocked my front tooth right off," Arceneaux said.

"I spit it out on the ground, I found it and (trainer) Marcus (Oshiro) had a little tooth saver solution that I put it in and I had it reattached on Monday."

Arceneaux was injury-free in last week's 62-59 home victory over the Louisville Fire and caught the game-winning touchdown pass from Withy-Allen with 36 seconds left.

"The win last week was big for us," Lee said. "The emotions were high and coming off a win like that will carry us and take us a little ways to our next game."

Not looking ahead: The Islanders could still retain their West Division title if they win their final two games and Bakersfield loses its final two. The Blitz will play at San Diego today. Next week, the Islanders will play at Bakersfield.