New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is reportedly out for at least six weeks after suffering a thumb injury against the Los Angeles Rams. Voice of the Saints and former New Orleans offensive lineman Zach Strief reacted to the news.
“This Saints roster has been massaged and built in a way to prepare for life after Drew,” Strief explained. “While this is not life after Drew, this will be a window into the team they’ve been putting together to win games without him.”
He singled out two other areas on the offense, in particular.
“The offensive line really has to step up. The running game can be very healthy for the Saints,” Strief said. “You can put this team in a position where the quarterback doesn’t have to move the ball like Drew Brees has moved it in the past, and you can still be very successful and win games.”
With Brees sidelined, all eyes are now on Teddy Bridgewater. The Saints re-signed the 27 year old quarterback to a 1 year, $7,250,000 contract during the offseason, and he will now have to take the reins.
Coming off the bench, Bridgewater went 17-30 (56.7%) for 165 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. Strief thought it was an okay performance, especially considering how he was thrust into the game.
“Teddy Bridgewater didn’t get one rep of Saints offense in practice this past week. He runs the scout team. Drew Brees takes every single one of those snaps. It’s a different deal when a player gets to prepare for a week, going into the game knowing that he’s the starter and getting all of those reps.
“It’s important to wait to judge until we see how Teddy looks when the offense is his, when it’s built around his skillset,” Strief cautioned. “And we’re going to get to see that this week. I do think there will be some different wrinkles in this offense.”
The bottom line for Strief is cautiously optimistic.
“I think this team is still built to win football games,” Strief said. “There are some challenges ahead, but I think it’s good that there is kind of a timetable for Drew of 6-8 weeks. If this team can hold it together and get some wins that they should win…we could see ourselves at around .500. This team will still be in the hunt at the end of the year.”