Matt Lauer Accident

Matt Lauer Accident as having that deer-in-the-headlights look about him, but it seems the Today show host could have used some radar on the weekend bike trails. The Today host was a no-show on today's show. Lauer, NBC News reports, "was laid up with an injured shoulder after a mishap while bicycling on Long Island. Lauer "was riding his bike over the weekend and he had a run-in with a deer," co-host Meredith Vieira explained today.

His shoulder was hurt -- badly enough to require surgery -- Vieira said, but his sense of humor was intact: "He joked in an email that he thought "the deer was hired by the competition." "I'd hire the deer -- but just to graze him," Vieira quipped to Weekend Today anchor Lester Holt, who filled in for Lauer on the set today.

The deer leapt in front of Lauer, who hit his brakes, which threw him off the bike and onto his shoulder. "Lauer, 51, is an avid cyclist who has ridden a bike on Today on a number of occasions, most recently around the Olympic velodrome in Beijing,'' NBC reports. "He also rode a bike last year in the Netherlands during his annual 'Where in the World is Matt Lauer?' globe-girdling trip.''

Matt Lauer

Matt Lauer was a no-show this morning after getting into a bicycle accident over the weekend. The unfortunate collision involved Matt and a deer. It is not clear if Matt actually hit the deer or if he swerved to miss colliding with it but in any case, he suffered a dislocated shoulder from the incident. What do you think? Is is appropriate for Meredith to joke at Matt’s expense? Lauer is expected to return to the show tomorrow morning.

Co-host Meredith Viera had a little fun at Matt’s expense this morning, telling viewers that she “thinks the deer was hired by the competition” and then went on to say that actually she hired the ‘hit’ but reports that she gave the deer strict orders to just graze him. We first reported that Lauer was on a motorcycle - which really did seem out of character for the TV host. Upon further investigation we discovered that he was on a bicycle.

A flip off his bicycle took "Today" show co-host Matt Lauer off the air Monday. Lauer was riding his bicycle this weekend when a deer jumped into his path. He flipped over the bike's handlebars and was slightly hurt, NBC said. His broadcast partner, Meredith Vieira, joked on the air that Lauer thinks the deer was hired by the competition. "Matt's banged up with a displaced shoulder, it popped out," she said. "So hopefully he'll be on the mend soon."