If it wasn't for the injury report and the pained expression on more than a few faces, we might have never known what the Saints were dealing with internally this week as they faced the Colts in a must-win game.
That was, until we got into the locker room post-game where a row of IVs were set up for players to replenish their fluids after playing through an intense, if not short-lived GI bug that's been running through the team.
"It's no fun," Dennis Allen said after the game, indicating that it typically lasted 12-24 hours.
Safety Marcus Maye, Guard Max Garcia and TE Jimmy Graham were all listed with an illness. Maye, who was also dealing with a hamstring injury, and Graham did not play in the game.
One player battled through it was Michael Thomas, who started feeling symptoms Friday evening and spent much of Saturday facing unpleasant symptoms. He was placed on the injury report prior to the game and listed as questionable. He said he knew going in there was no chance he wouldn't be out there, it was just a question of how effective he could be.
"I knew my guys needed me to be there and I just knew that, you know, that’s just accountability, and I’m definitely, if it wasn’t [an injury] like how I missed all those other games, I’m probably going to play every time," Thomas said, still clearly feeling the effects of the illness. "That’s just the mindset. That’s how much I missed the game and I know how much I love the game, to be out there, to help my team. I was gonna find a way to play.”
Thomas ended up playing 44 snaps, the third most of any skill position player. He got involved early with a perfectly executed backshoulder catch on the second play of the game. He also had his longest catch of the season with a 31-yard catch in the middle of the field to help set up the Saints first touchdown of the day.
Thomas finished the game with 68 yards on four catches, though only one catch for 5 yards came after halftime.
Another player who missed a day of practice with an illness was Alvin Kamara, though he said his issue was respiratory and not what everyone else had. In his typical, no-pretense approach, he referred to what his teammates had as a "sh*t bug."
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"You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do," he said. "It is what it is.”
At the end of the day everyone is feeling better after a win, whether they're actually feeling better or not. The Saints went into the week having lost four of their past five games, with the trade deadline looming. Another loss, and there'd have been a lot of tough questions to answer -- there still might be. But with a win and losses for both the Bucs and Falcons, the Saints are now sitting at 4-4 and tied atop the division.
"I think we all needed a game like this," Allen said. "I mean, there has been a lot of talk about the offense, but we needed a win and we got one. We got one as a team, so there’s a lot to like."