Why Is Drew Brees On The Bench, The past few weeks have been extremely frustrating for football fans everywhere as we watch arguably the best quarterback in league history sit on the sidelines due to an ankle injury. While his performance has slipped slightly, it is tough to believe that he will not be starting games for the rest of this season or beyond.
Brees’s current absence comes at the worst possible time for him considering how well he has played recently. He had won five straight starts before getting hurt and was coming off one of the greatest performances of his career against Seattle last Sunday night.
The Saints were down 21-7 early in the fourth quarter when Brees found himself going back onto the field with 4:38 left in the game. New Orleans scored two touchdowns within those four downs, but it took them almost three full minutes longer than normal to do so.
It seems like every play took forever for Brees to find open receivers and even though he was constantly under pressure, he never lost his composure. His final passer rating was still above 200 which means he remained confident throughout the entire thing.
That does not usually happen during the regular season for the most powerful quarterbacks in the NFL. It is impossible to keep up hope when you are watching someone else take over, but there was nothing close to giving up on him here.
The ankle injury
Last week, in an otherwise unremarkable game for the New Orleans Saints, quarterback Drew Brees suffered what would turn out to be his second significant leg injury of the season. On third down with around 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Brees took a hit while trying to throw the ball away from running back Mark Ingram.
Why Is Drew Brees On The Bench, after he limped off the field, it was determined that he had sustained a high-ankle sprain. This is not good news for either player or team, as both needed him at full strength for the rest of the contest.
It also did not look good for his chances of returning this Sunday night when they play against the Los Angeles Rams. If you take a close look at pictures of his foot after the injury, it seems very possible that he will miss the next few games due to this recurring issue.
Brees has been practicing with the injury since last Wednesday, so there are no immediate concerns about his availability for the start of the season. However, if he misses any more time, it could become a bigger problem than we realize.
He has already missed three games this year because of knee and shoulder injuries, which put extra pressure on whoever takes over for him during those breaks. Having two additional weeks of rest beyond normal wouldn’t hurt anything, but making sure he gets all the necessary treatment is crucial.
The calf injury
Last week during practice, Saints quarterback Drew Brees suffered an ankle sprain while running a passing play. He was able to return in the second half but did not throw a pass due to the pain he was feeling.
On Sunday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, just over two hours after his last workout, Brees went down again while practicing for the first time since injuring his leg earlier this month. This time it was his left lower leg that took a hit. And just like before, he could not put any weight on it as of now.
This is definitely something serious for the 33-year-old. It looks very likely at this point that he will be sidelined for several weeks if not months.
It’s no surprise then that many are wondering why he isn’t playing right now given how well he has played recently. After all, he had five touchdown passes and zero interceptions in his previous three games.
But there’s one major factor working in his favor here. Obviously, keeping him healthy is important, but so too is finding someone capable of filling his shoes should he get injured or decide to retire.
Brees is currently under contract through the 2021 season with a $20 million guaranteed salary for next year alone. If he were to officially announce his retirement tomorrow, the organization would have the option of selecting Brock Osweiler with the No.
The shoulder injury
Last season, New Orleans was in first place of the NFC South when quarterback Drew Brees suffered an ankle injury during a November game against Tampa Bay. He left the field with just under two minutes to play in the fourth quarter before returning shortly after for extra time.
A day later, head coach Sean Payton announced that Brees would be out six weeks due to right shoulder inflammation. It took until January 27th for him to return to action and he has not looked like his old self since then.
In fact, it is possible that Brees’s current state will continue to get worse as time goes by. According to ESPN Saints reporter Mike Triplett, doctors believe there could still be damage done to the inner part of Brees’s shoulder even though he does not seem to feel any pain at this stage.
If you look closely, you can tell Brees seems uncomfortable while throwing the ball. This is why many people assume he must hurt more than he lets show sometimes. In fact, some claim he is hiding how bad his shoulder really hurts because he does not want to lose football again! You may get information about best free live sports streaming.
Brees himself has said he feels “normal” but clearly he is not. If you take a close look at his throws, you can see he seems tight around the shoulders which is something he never used to do.
The back injury
Most recently, in December of last year, Saints quarterback Drew Brees suffered what was described as a lower body sprain during a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He left that game with less than two minutes to play and did not return.
Brees stayed in the locker room for several minutes before being seen walking gingerly around the field. It was later reported that he had hurt his back while taking a knee at the end of the first half.
The next day, however, it was revealed that Brees would be sidelined for up to six weeks due to a herniated disc. This came just over eight months after he played through an earlier ankle injury.
He returned from this latest setback in time for Christmas Day games, starting one contest and coming off late in another. Many fans were excited about the prospect of seeing him take the field again, but unfortunately, he has been ruled out once more.
This is the fourth season in a row that he has missed significant chunks of action because of injuries. Given how well he has performed when healthy, there’s no reason to believe that he won’t keep playing very long, but it certainly can’t help to make you wonder whether he will ever stay completely clear.
It seems like every week, someone finds themselves asking if the health of the 32-year-old veteran will hold up until the middle of October.
The knee injury
Last week, it was announced that New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees would be sitting out of practice due to an ankle sprain he suffered during Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. According to head coach Sean Payton, this is not just any old sprained ankle. It is actually his “best guess” as to what happened to him in the third quarter when he took a hard hit while throwing the ball downfield.
The severity of the injury has doctors split over whether or not he will need season-ending surgery, but either way they do not expect him to return until after the offseason. At the very least, he will miss several weeks because of the rehab process.
This comes one week after Brees missed two practices with the same leg injury before returning for last Sunday night’s 30–23 win over the Bucs. He finished with 226 passing yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions.
The hand injury
Last week, during Sunday’s game against the Oakland Raiders, Saints quarterback Drew Brees left the field with an injured right index finger. He stayed in the game for three more plays before he was pulled for precautionary reasons.
After the game, it was revealed that Brees had broken his middle phalanx bone of his right ring finger. This is one of the longest lasting bones in your fingers, so it is important to remember what causes it to break down.
Dull pain or sharp pains when moving the digit are some indications that this has happened. For Brees, he said that he was punching a bag at his home gym prior to the game and noticed some discomfort afterwards.
He will likely have surgery within two weeks to fix the damage done from breaking his finger. It is possible that he could miss up to six months due to rehab, but doctors expect him to return soon.
Saints coach Sean Payton called it “a freak accident” and said they were all surprised by how bad it got. They hope there is no long term effect on Brees’ ability to throw the ball and run their offense.
The foot injury
One of the main reasons why New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is not in his usual form this season is due to an injured left ankle he suffered during Week 2’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The 26-year old started off the year with three straight wins before suffering the injury, which kept him out for two games. Since returning from the layoff, though, he has not looked as sharp at times.
Brees was seen using a protective boot on his left leg after throwing an incomplete pass late in the fourth quarter last Sunday night against the Miami Dolphins. This comes one week after he had to leave that same game early because of cramping.
He did not return to the field until just before halftime when he threw a touchdown pass. But even then it took several minutes for him to get back into rhythm while trying to find his groove again.
It seems like every time he gets close, something happens to hinder his performance once more. And with the upcoming schedule being very tough, there are no breaks coming anytime soon.
This will be the third season in a row where he will have at least six games on the seat. He can still bounce back from these setbacks if he stays focused on his lessons learned and takes what he knows from past seasons and applies it here and now.
But making changes or adjustments may be difficult unless he feels comfortable doing so.
The eye injury
Earlier this season, Saints quarterback Drew Brees suffered an ankle sprain while trying to make a tackle in a game. He was able to return after missing one week of action. However, he appeared to be struggling with his arm strength ever since that day.
It seemed like something must have been wrong with his throwing shoulder because he would always throw with power when attempting to hit someone or pass them quickly. This is not normal for him!
After practices earlier this month, it was determined that Brees needed surgery on his right (throwing) shoulder. It looks as though he will need at least eight weeks to recover properly.
Brees’s diagnosis and upcoming procedure are definitely cause for concern due to how early he went into the season with the injured shoulder. There is no clear reason why his shoulder started hurting so soon after returning from the initial injury.
He has already had some time off now so hopefully he recovers well ahead of schedule. Hopefully for the team, he comes back strong once again.
