No one needs to know how he was playing. That really does not matter. In the end, he claimed to be hurt and couldn't play but still went out and did something that requires use of his injured part. I don't care how hard he was playing or how soft he was playing, in the end it was stupid to put himself in that situation and it comes across to me as selfish and reckless.
I have called out of my jobs before, sometimes straight up lying saying I was sick when I wasn't and then had fun. That isn't in any way comparable to this. But I have never been enough of a f***ing moron to call out while actually sick or injured and then gone out and done something that can potentially make me sicker or more injured. I don't know, maybe I have some sense of responsibility or something...