It didn't take Drew Brees long in his new stint as a FOX color analyst to book his first trip to New Orleans.
That'll come in Week 12 alongside Adam Amin when the Saints QB legend is on the call for a rivalry clash with the Falcons. Brees said he didn't expect it to be a challenge to remain impartial, but he did make one thing clear when he spoke on WWL Radio this week.
"You know damn well who I want to win," Brees said, "but it’s not going to be challenging. I’m just going to call it how I see it."
Hear the full interview with Drew Brees in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
Brees made his return to the broadcast booth in Week 11 on the call for the Packers showdown with the Giants, a game that featured former Saints QB Jameis Winston pulling his first start of the year for New York. It was only his third game on an NFL broadcast, along with a Saints-Bills showdown on Thanksgiving and a playoff clash between the Bills and Raiders.
That was his lone season with NBC after retiring from the NFL, but he made clear he wanted to return as a color analyst down the line. That opportunity came this year when he took over the role previously held by Mark Sanchez. Brees said he got back into the flow quickly.
"I felt like I learned so much from that first year doing it and I was excited to get the opportunity again with FOX, kind of started off slow, you just kind of get a feel for the game," Brees said, "but man, I just had so much information I wanted to convey and so many insights, and obviously it was fun to watch Jameis get the start.”
His second assignment brings the unique flair of being intimately familiar with the Saints organization and Falcons rivalry. There are only a handful of players left on the Saints that can say they were teammates with Brees, but he's watched everyone closely over the past few years.
"I’m a fan of the game, I love the game. I love being able to provide insights to the fans," Brees said. "It’s fun because I’m sitting here watching tape on both sides and kind of building the profiles for both teams and a bunch of the players and some guys I played with, some guys I played against, some guys I don’t really know that well and I’m learning a lot about, so it’s actually a lot of fun.”
The Saints (2-8) host the Falcons (3-7) at 3:25 p.m. inside the Caesars Superdome. Catch all the action on WWL and Audacy.
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On memories of Falcons rivalry
“I feel like I talk to people all the time that are like, hey, they live in New Orleans, they got family in Atlanta or they live in Atlanta, they’ve got family in New Orleans, so there’s like these family rivalries or with friends, cousins, whoever, so certainly you’ve got a lot of that going, but I mean, look, at the end of the day they’re in the division, right, so every divisional game means a little something extra.
"I look back on our battles with Atlanta and look, they had a top-flight quarterback in Matt Ryan and they had a bunch of top-flight skill players, right, in Julio Jones and Roddy White and Tony Gonzales there for a while. ... So many times that game determined who would win the division. So, look, obviously both teams wish they had better records right now, but at the same time it doesn’t diminish the meaning of the rivalry.”
How Falcons injuries will affect matchup
“I mean, look, I think obviously Kirk [Cousins] hasn’t played a lot this year, but he’s a crafty veteran, man, and you know that if he gets hot, you know, he can — he’s dangerous. Obviously not having Drake London who, big target who is certainly their red zone guy, as you watch the tape, you know, they’re going to miss him. But man, Bijan Robinson is so dangerous, in fact, I see so much of Alvin Kamara in Bijan Robinson, right, you know, he’s kind of like just how dynamic they are, you know, their ability, what they offer in the run game but also out of the backfield. You just want the ball in their hands, it’s like how do we get this guy 30 touches a game, so you’ve just got to bottle him up.
"You’ve got to have a solution for him in every facet, in fact, he’s kind of the guy you’ve got to key on, and look, they’ve got some big-play guys in Mooney as a receiver and you know, Pitts has just kind of been inconsistent, but you know, big target, athletic, probably a matchup problem on a linebacker, that kind of thing, so — but man, I think if your defense can put together a performance like they did against Carolina, we should be OK.”