Need help with transaxle and engine mating

Hello everyone, I need help. I did a head gasket job on this car and later found out that this connector from the transaxle to flywheel is broken too. So I took out the engine and tranny and put a used tranny on the engine. Since I had to wiggle it to get the bolts in, while connecting the engine to the tranny I am just afraid if I broke this connector again. So before putting the engine and transmission back in the car is there any way to check if this small connecting rod is good? I can maybe unbolt the transmission and check it but I was thinking if I can spin the engine and see if the bearings move. I can see the bearings through axle openings and they don't move/rotate when I manually spin the crankshaft forward. Any help is much appreciated.