The severity of New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees' injury wasn't immediately known after leaving the game early against San Francisco on Nov. 15.
Brees, 41, was sacked in the second quarter and noticeably injured his ribs, but he continued to play the rest of the first half before having to leave the game.
After multiple tests to find out the extent of the injury, it's now known that Brees broke at least 11 ribs and a collapsed lung, putting him on the injured reserve for at least the next three weeks.
In an interview on Tuesday with Mike Tabors of Cox Sports TV, Brees went into more detail about just how bad the injury was, saying his body basically shut down on him.
"When you have broken ribs on both sides and obviously the collapsed lung, I felt like, 'Man, I'm pushing through, I'm pushing through,' and yet my body just locked up on me," Brees said. "I couldn't rotate, I couldn't throw ... It was so upsetting, so depressing, I wanted to be there for my team. I also knew this was my body telling me I needed to heal."
Brees said he isn't sure how long the injury will take to heal and has a "sense of urgency" to get back, but he knows he can't rush.
"In this case, you're talking about lungs, you're talking about ribs," Brees said. "Those are all that is vital to the throwing motion and the last thing I want to do is go out there at 70%, with a higher risk of re-injury, that all of a sudden puts me out for a really extended period of time."
While Brees is out, the Saints will continue to roll with Taysom Hill at quarterback who helped lead the team to a victory over Atlanta last week, and Brees has full confidence in his team.
"All the guys who have been out for whatever reason, whether COVID related or injury related, guys have been stepping up," Brees said. "The team continuing to grow, mature and find ways to win game, I think it just says a lot about our team and what we're made of."