Leading up to his first start since injuring his right thumb in the Saints’ Week 2 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, much of the discussion around Drew Brees was questioning if he should play against the Arizona Cardinals Sunday.
Especially since the Saints were going to be off the following week.
Brees even heard it.
“I know the thought would be ‘Hey. Why don’t you just wait until after the bye week? Everything seems to be going well, so why take the chance," he said.
Brees’ answer: “I’m a football player.”
And the quarterback showed very few signs of an injury, other than the plastic splint fastened to his thumb, that he wasn't playing football the past few weeks. The Saints QB threw for 373 yards and three touchdowns in the Saints’ 31-9 win against the Cardinals.
Brees said he felt good being back on field and acknowledged that the last five weeks were “tough” as he worked to get back in the lineup. Brees injured the thumb after colliding with Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald’s hand in the first half of that game. He had surgery to repair the damaged ligament in his thumb, and his doctors originally told him that the Saints’ Nov. 10 matchup with the Atlanta Falcons was likely when he’d return.
But Brees, motivated by his teammates, wanted to play as quickly as he could.
“The doctors and everybody were saying after the bye week,” he said. ”But I was trying to fast track that as much as possible, but understanding that there’s a healing process that needs to take place. But man, I was trying to push this as much as we can.”
He returned to practice this week and after a series of workouts Saints head coach Sean Payton said the NFL’s all-time leading passer looked “fabulous." He knew Brees was ready to play.
“Thursday’s practice was when I felt like 'Alright, I’m able to make all the throws I would make,'” Drew said.
Drew Brees showed the 73,064 in attendance Sunday what his teammates saw all week. He completed 79.1 percent of his passes, including short throws to Latavius Murray, Zach Line and Deonte Harris, and pushed the ball downfield to receiver Michael Thomas and backup quarterback Taysom Hill. Save for a second half interception, Brees threw to Arizona’s Patrick Peterson, which he admitted was a bad decision as opposed to a bad throw, he was nearly flawless in his return.
Brees said after the game that he wasn’t expecting any soreness, although he admitted his hand took some shots during the game. But the 40-year-old took that as a positive.
“I think that’s one thing you can’t really simulate,” he said. “I can do a lot of things in practice, but I’m not really going to say ‘someone run into my hand real quick so I can see.’ You kind of wait and see how that how that goes.”
Brees received a warm welcome from the Superdome crowd as they, like his teammates, were glad to see him back on the field. Even the Cardinals tipped their caps to him.
“There’s a reason he’s the leading passer in the history of this game,” Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald said. “We’ve been doing this 100 years and he’s the most to ever do it. Hats off to him and what he’s been able to accomplish. I’m happy to see him back out there and playing.”
