INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — American rider Nicky Hayden will consult with doctors Monday and Tuesday before making any decision about competing in next weekend's MotoGP race.

The 2006 world champion missed Sunday's Indianapolis Grand Prix after being diagnosed with a concussion and two broken bones in his right hand following a hard crash during Saturday's qualifications. Doctors declared him "unfit to ride" Saturday night.

So for once, the outspoken 31-year-old is willing to play it safe.

"It's going to be tough. I mean we're on the track in four days," Hayden said. "The hand, the metacarpal, I broke two and three, which they're clean breaks all the way through and don't need surgery at the moment. But they (doctors) are worried that if I do try to go riding with the pressure these bikes put on them, I could displace them, which is, uh, which is not good. So it's a bit of a problem. We'll just evaluate things tomorrow. I'm going to go get a CT scan, check things a bit more, check with another doctor and hopefully we know something by Tuesday."

For Hayden, it's the latest bump in what has been a rocky season.

The once-powerful Ducati Team trails this year's dominant team, Repsol Honda, by 218 points in the team standings.

Ducati's riders, Hayden and Italy's Valentino Rossi, both former world champs, have struggled to reach the podium. Hayden's best finish this season is sixth. Rossi finished second at France in May, but hasn't finished higher than seventh anywhere else.

Off the track, it's been tumultuous, too.

Audi has already purchased Ducati, a move Hayden embraces, and Rossi has already announced he'll leave the Ducati Team to return to Yamaha after this season.

The latest chapter in this year-long saga was Hayden's big crash.

As Hayden tried to navigate two tricky turns, the rear end of his bike spun around, flinging Hayden into the air. As Hayden landed, his head slammed hard against the asphalt track, knocking him out until after he tumbled to a stop in the grass. He was taken from the track in an ambulance and was later transported to Methodist Hospital.

"It was a tricky little corner there where there's a lot of lane angle and a lot of speed, and I was spinning there, using the rear to turn the bike to slide and when I rolled off for the next corner, the bike actually hooked back up and you know, nap time after that," Hayden said.

But the Kentucky native wasn't joking about his injuries — or the possibility of missing next week's race at Brno, Czech Republic.

"To miss any race is not fun, but to miss my home race is just double," he said. "The main thing is I'm, more or less, OK. I mean a broken hand and a pretty severe concussion is not OK, but that was a pretty big one, a little bit scary, so I'm happy to be able to come in here today and at least support the race and see things."