New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees suffered five fractured ribs on both sides of his chest and a collapsed right lung after Sunday’s win against the San Francisco 49ers, per Ed Werder.
Drew Brees finished the game 8 of 13 for 76 yards and a touchdown pass before going down with 8:36 left in the second quarter. Brees also ended up sticking it out for a few more series. Backup quarterback Jameis Winston finished off the second half 6 of 10 for 63 yards.
The Saints announced this week that they will be starting Taysom Hill over Jameis Winston in their Week 11 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons. (Updated)
According to ESPN’s Dan Graziano, the most optimistic recovery time would be 2-3 weeks. The time table could be even longer because it’s just optimism for now. Though there is hope he will still be ready come playoff time.
Brees came into Week 10 already injured with three broken ribs from the Buccaneers game the week prior. That wasn’t revealed until Brees got his X-rays from yesterday’s contest.
This injury could have some huge playoff implications in deciding who wins the NFC South, despite the Saints sweeping the Buccaneers this season. For now the Saints sit atop the division at 7-2, but the Bucs are right behind at 7-3. The Bucs have won three of their last four games, so the race for the NFC South crown should be interesting down the stretch.
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