ATLANTA - Ryan Church could return to the Mets' lineup as early as Thursday night after a CT scan of his head revealed no damage from the scary collision with Braves shortstop Yunel Escobar on the final play of Tuesday's doubleheader.

The Mets insist that Church sustained a concussion when his head smashed into Escobar's knee as he tried to break up the double play. But Church said that doctors told him otherwise.

“I got hit in the back of the head, dragged my face on some gravel and chewed on some dirt,” Church said. “That's about it.”

Church did have a nasty red scrape on the upper right section of his forehead, which had a few of his teammates joking that his face looked like a slice of pepperoni pizza. The fact that Church could laugh at the comments was probably the best indication he was feeling much better.

The Braves, however, took the situation a little more seriously. Manager Bobby Cox told reporters that Church came in too high with his slide - for the second time in that game.

With his March 1 concussion, Church experienced headaches and nausea that caused him to miss nearly two weeks. Church had no desire to see replays of that crash, but he did watch Tuesday's. “Once,” he said. “Once was enough.”

The Mets still plan on being cautious with Church, but he leads the team in batting average (.311), slugging percentage (.534) and home runs (nine).