As it turns out, the New Orleans Saints starting quarterback was more injured than we initially thought.
The New Orleans Saints might’ve left Week 10 with the victory over the San Francisco 49ers, but not without casualties. Starting quarterback Drew Brees sat out of the second half of the contest after taking a big hit in what was determined to be a rib injury. As it turns out, the Saints revealed days later that Brees suffered five rib fractures and a collapsed right lung and placed him on the injured reserve days later. As it turns out, the injury was much worse than initially thought.
ESPN’s Ed Werder said that Brees revealed to him that doctors found an additional six rib fractures. So Brees is currently dealing with 11 cracked ribs, eight on the left side and three on the right. Excuse us while we wince at that thought.
Brees focused on returning in three weeks
Usually one broken rib will cause the average individual to suffer. But Brees is dealing with 11. If you needed proof of how tough Brees is, here you have it.
Even though Brees is dealing with nearly half of his rib cage shattered, doctors have seen improvement in his lung function. With that, Brees is hoping that he’ll be ready to return at Week 14, which is when he’s eligible to return off the injured reserve. However, he’ll only return if his risk for re-injury is low.
Many expected that Jameis Winston would earn the start on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons, considering he entered in relief of Brees last week against the 49ers. Instead, head coach Sean Payton threw the curveball of all curveballs in announcing that Taysom Hill would start under center instead. Hill only has 18 career passing attempts and is mostly used on trick plays. But Payton has the utmost confidence in him, as evidenced by the two-year, $21 million contract extension handed to him this past offseason. Now, Payton will look to silence all of Hill’s many critics. But if it fails, they at least have Winston to fall back on.
Best believe that Brees will be paying attention to all three games while he tries to heal up from this very painful injury.