It was anything but a guarantee that Pete Werner played in Week 11 against the Browns.
The Saints linebacker broke his hand late during the win against the Atlanta Falcons, then underwent surgery and had metal equipment inserted, details shared after the 35-14 win in which he played 48 total snaps with a club on his right hand.
"That’s some 'Walker, Texas Ranger' toughness right there," Davis said in jest, sharing some information that interim head coach Darren Rizzi kept under wraps during the week prior to the game.
Werner was held out of practice on Wednesday and Thursday, but donned the club and got in limited work during Friday's practice. He told Davis that when the hand took hits it felt like he was "punching a brick wall," but that wasn't enough to keep him out. Rizzi said the question for Werner was whether he could play without further damaging the hand, and that conversations over how best to protect it stretched well into the weekend.
Team doctors ultimately gave Werner the go-ahead and he finished the game with 6 tackles as the much maligned Saints run defense held Cleveland to 66 rushing yards on 20 carries. Werner, who missed three games earlier this season due to a hamstring injury, signed a 3-year contract with the Saints prior to the season. The former Ohio State Buckeye has been a key piece of the team's linebacker rotation next to Davis since he was picked in the 2nd round of the 2021 draft, but he has dealt with a host of injuries during his young career.
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"He already had my respect, I already knew he was a tough player, but man, like, your hands and feet, those are some very sensitive areas," Davis continued. "I know people look at football and be like, man, those are tough guys. But man, if you step on your toe or you stub your toe, it still hurts. If you break your finger or something, it hurts, and for him to be out there toughing it out like that for the team, and made some really big plays, it just speaks to his toughness and his commitment to the game.”
The decision and result for Werner underscores a desire and commitment to righting the ship that's been clear the past two weeks since Rizzi took over for fired head coach Dennis Allen. After seven consecutive losses the Saints have won back-to-back games and now sit just 2 games behind the reeling Falcons in a suddenly wide-open NFC South.
Among the messages from the coaching staff for this game: Win the line of scrimmage and finish. The Saints did both things, outrushing Cleveland 214-66 behind a massive game from Taysom Hill, and winning the 4th quarter 21-0. It's the second consecutive week the Saints held their opponent scoreless in the 4th quarter.
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"I think that we’re starting to get some confidence back. ... I thought we had a lot of confidence in the beginning of the year, we obviously hit a little bit of a lull team-wise, and I think there’s some, you’ve got a little of that swag back, if you will," Rizzi said, "and so that makes me so happy just seeing our guys celebrate and the culmination of the work week and now I think that. We talked about that formula for winning and so I talked about the buy-in and it’s a credit to everybody in the locker room, those guys, that’s what they’ve done."
The two wins mean the Saints get to enter their Week 12 bye feeling good about themselves, and while the team is eager to keep winning, they're more than happy to get a reset, get healthy and resume things on the other side.
"We know we have a lot to keep playing for and to play, and so our focus is not gonna change, but going from training camp to how late our bye week is this year, we definitely need one," said quarterback Derek Carr. "We were not running on E, but there’s some guys that just need to rest. This game is violent. It’s ridiculous, you know, some of the things that we put our bodies through."
When the Saints return they'll face a team in a similar situation. The Rams started the season 1-5, but now sit at 5-5 as they've gotten key players healthy.