Some suggested earlier this season that the New Orleans Saints should consider benching Drew Brees for Jameis Winston. On Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, the Saints did just that — but only because Brees injured his ribs. Brees opened Week 10 under center and threw a touchdown to help New Orleans take a 17-10 lead, but it was Winston who started the second half at QB for the Saints, with the 41-year-old Brees set to undergo X-rays and an MRI this week.
Despite a relatively mild start to 2020, Brees had escalated his production in recent weeks, posting top-10 numbers amid the Saints’ surge to the top of the NFC South. But the longtime signal-caller, who missed five games in 2019 due to a thumb injury, appeared on the team’s official injury report earlier this month because of a right shoulder issue. Now it appears Brees is battling a rib problem, with Winston taking over against the Niners and the Saints initially ruling No. 9 questionable to return to Sunday’s game.
“He took a heavy shot in the first half,” coach Sean Payton said afterward. “He felt it was really impacting him … (and said) ‘I don’t feel like I’m capable of playing.’ And that happens sometimes.”
The Saints often rely on backup QB Taysom Hill, inserting him as a utility man alongside or in place of Brees on a weekly basis, but Winston was added this offseason as a more traditional backup under center. The former No. 1 overall pick spent the first five seasons of his NFL career with the rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers, establishing a reputation as a boom-or-bust starter, as evidenced by a 2019 campaign that saw him lead the league in passing yards but also throw an NFL-high 30 interceptions.
Brees, meanwhile, had not missed more than a single game in a season for 15 straight years prior to 2019.
